The Bodyguards
by Kay Gryffin
Summary: For the past three years, Sabaku no Kankurō, brother and bodyguard to the Fifth Kazekage, has been secretly involved with the heiress of the Hyūga and bodyguard of the Sixth Hokage, Hinata. Though in love, they try to make the best of their situation and be satisfied with love in secret. However, just because they are doesn't mean their friends are. An attempt at humor. Lemons.
1. Chapter 1

_**Okay, so I know that I said I wouldn't upload any new chapters to **__**Of Strength**__** this week, or really any uploading at all. The problem was that I got majorly bored of not entertaining anyone with any stories. I've had this one sitting around on my flash drive for a while, and I figured it wouldn't hurt to put it up. This was where the original storyline I had planned for the story originated from, and as you can plainly see, this got so far deviated from that it wasn't even funny. But I still liked it because it was the first fic I finished. **_

**_It's not very long-it's only 57 pages, in fact; compared to my other multi-chapter story, which is +400 pages. It's just a simple plot, really. I guess one would call it kind of "fluffy". I don't know. What I do know is that I attempted at humor in it, and that it is predominantly romantic. The chapters are not long, and for the most part they're just cutesy. Also... I wrote lemons in it. Like I did with _****_Of Strength_****_, I'll give warning before the lemons really start. They're not in-depth and weird, like some of the lemons you can find on here ([Insert-Character-Name-Here] thrusted his d**k as hard as he could into [Insert-Character-Name-Here]'s wet p***y, reaching a speed of ninety mph), but still. They're not really for people under eighteen. _**

**_So here it is. Feel free to review if you want. I know the writing is not that great-it's an old story, after all-but I hope you enjoy nonetheless. _**

**_DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto. _**

* * *

Kankurō was uncommonly excited.

Gaara watched his usually cool, aloof brother uncharacteristically check the window, biting his lip and rubbing his earlobe irritably. His black eyes displayed happiness and excitement. His cat hat, which was usually kept still upon his head and untouched for the day until taken off at night, was cast aside on the ground carelessly, and he ran his hair through the brown hair he'd inherited from his mother.

Gaara sat in his chair, elbows on his desk. His aquamarine eyes observed his brother curiously. In all of his twenty years; he'd never seen Kankurō this excited. He hadn't even been this happy when receiving a puppet; and puppets were Kankurō's passion. His eyes followed Kankurō's anxious movements across the floor of his office. He could almost feel the tension radiating off of his brother's body.

"Kankurō," Gaara finally said, "What's wrong with you?"

Kankurō flinched; as if he hadn't really realized he was still in the room with his younger brother, the fifth Kazekage. "Huh?" he asked his brother stupidly, rubbing his hair again. "What ya talkin' about, Gaara?" Kankurō's mouth hung open like a baby waiting for food, and for probably the thousandth time in Gaara's life he figured his brother was an invalid, or at the very least the stupidest shinobi he'd ever come across.

"You're pacing, and you keep staring out the window. What're you so excited about? It's only a Kage summit," said Gaara, putting his chin on his knuckles.

Kankurō finally seemed to grasp what his brother was talking about, much to Gaara's irritation. "I just can't wait to hear Temari screaming at the bodyguards for stealing her food and taking up her space. If they thought a regular Temari was bad… try her _pregnant._" Kankurō shuddered to think that his sister, a woman who couldn't cook to save her life and seemed to be on constant PMS when it came to her emotions; was pregnant. He was, honestly, terrified of her.

Gaara did look forward to seeing her rant at the bodyguards. At some moments, even he was scared of his sister; and he was a cold-blooded murderer with the emotions of a rock. But he wasn't stupid; it wasn't what his brother was anxious about. He had the feeling that there was something else, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what.

The puppeteer once again went to the window; but this time a hint of a smile could be seen on his lips, confusing Gaara. "It seems that Konohagakure is early to this thing for once, Gaara," said Kankurō, turning to his brother. Gaara would've raised an eyebrow if he had any. The Leaf ninjas were _always _late—emphasis on always. The summit would begin, and they would arrive at least a full day later; armed with excuses.

Well, hell. At least the summit didn't start until the next day. He didn't have to wear those uncomfortable Kage robes. Gaara shuddered. The robes were itchy, not to mention over-sized for his rather short frame. He hated wearing them about as much as he hated Shukaku. Well, at least that demon was gone now.

"Should I greet him at the gate?" asked Gaara, the sand rising around him as he suggested transportation. Kankurō looked back out the window, squinting at the figure in red Kage robes.

"Nah…" said Kankurō after a minute, "It seems Matsuri and Temari have that covered for you…"

"Hn," said Gaara, letting the sand fall to his feet once again. He didn't really want to transport anyways. He felt so lazy, much like Temari's little lover. As much as he hated to admit it, the Nara male was rubbing off on him; influencing him to an almost uncomfortable amount. There were some days that Gaara found himself staring at the sky; though with the lack of clouds in the desert he didn't find it nearly as enjoyable as Shikamaru did.

Kankurō finally sat down, grabbing his cat hat off of the ground and placing it on his head. His kabuki paint gave an almost hilarious image of the twenty-two year old; though his sheer height and build stopped people from teasing him. Not that he would care. As the fourth Kazekage's son, he'd learned to ignore the whispers and taunts of the people subjected to the Kage's rulings.

Kankurō's ear twitched as he heard a door slam and some light arguing resound off of the walls in the hallway. He grinned upon recognizing Temari's voice in the midst of the commotion; screaming at an equally stubborn opponent. He only caught the bare minimum: from the sounds of it, the Hokage had suggested that she come to Konohagakure to give birth on the Nara estate. Of course, Temari wanted the child to be born in the same place as she had: Sunagakure; home of the Sand Siblings.

The door opened, slamming against the wall, and a loud, obnoxious male voice said, "Gaara, tell Temari-baka I am correct!"

Gaara's eyes narrowed, showing his audience more of his blackened eyelids. "I am not getting involved in this battle," growled Gaara, glaring at Uzumaki Naruto; the sixth Hokage. "I know better than to pick sides when _you two _are involved."

"Hah, so he agrees with me!" yelled Temari, poking her counterpart in the shoulder. Gaara sighed, resting his head in his palm. Kankurō only snickered; amused. There was no such thing as neutrality when it came to the arguments between Naruto and Temari; surely Gaara would realize this by now.

"Dattebayo, he agreed with me," exclaimed Naruto.

Temari rolled her eyes, her hand drifting down to her plump midsection. She was only four months into the pregnancy, yet she had already decided everything about this child up until it was five years old. It honestly scared Kankurō to think of his sister as a mother. "You're such a baka. He's a sand child; so he shall be born in the sand."

Naruto opened his mouth to argue, but Kankurō interrupted, "Hey, can we finish this argument later? Gaara looks like he's going to kill somebody and it sure as hell ain't going to be me!" Naruto looked over at his former Jinchuuriki counterpart; and sure enough Gaara had a murderous gleam in his eye, and the sand was ready to be used. The metallic smell of blood was in the air; and while Kankurō was perfectly comfortable where he was, Naruto and Temari felt threatened.

Naruto smiled nervously and held up his hands. "Gaara… no need to be hasty…" he said, quivering. Kyūbi no Kitsune was laughing inside of Naruto; amused by his host's fear of the Kazekage. While Gaara might not have a demon like Sabaku sealed within him anymore; he was still a force to fear. Once a murderer, always a murderer.

Gaara sighed, closing his eyes. "You are so lucky I consider you to be a friend, Naruto…" he muttered trailing off.

"AWW…" yelled out Naruto, snickering. Gaara's eyes opened, showing his light amusement with the Hokage. It was true to say that the pair of them were friends; they held no ill will towards one another. Every few months, the pair would find some reason to meet up; whether it be to actually talk business or for a simple sharing of sake. It secretly delighted Gaara that his best friend arrived early; Naruto was one of the few people he could talk to besides for Kankurō and Temari.

Gaara stood up, leaving his chair and gourd behind as he walked to Naruto and put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "How have you been?"

Naruto grinned. "Well. The job's a lot of papers, but it's definitely worth it."

Gaara's eyes flicked around. "You don't travel with bodyguards?" he asked. He was pretty sure that Naruto was required by the counsel to travel with at least one ANBU form his village… he was still, after all, the host of the Kyūbi, and they wanted to make sure no harm fell upon him. Hell, Gaara was required to travel with Kankuro to assure that he wouldn't murder anybody on his travels; and Gaara hadn't killed in over three years. (How many people could say that?)

"Oh, yeah, I do… two of them. You know one of them, Shikamaru. He'd come in if he didn't think it wasn't worth his trouble," explained Naruto.

"Lazy bum," said Temari affectionately, her hand brushing against her bumped stomach.

"What about the other one?" asked Gaara.

"Oh… she's too polite. She automatically thinks she's intrusive. I offered, but she turned me down… she's insanely nice like that." Naruto allowed himself a smile.

"She sounds close," said Gaara, raising a non-existent eyebrow.

"Of course she is. I've known her for years; she's like my sister. You might remember her… Hinata?"

"Didn't she get the shit kicked out of her by Neji at the Chunin exams?" asked Gaara, surprised that she, of all people, would be picked to follow Naruto around.

Naruto was suddenly serious. "Don't underestimate her," he said, "She can kick the shit out of me. In fact, she has kicked the shit out of me." The last part was mutter; but they all could hear it. Kankurō tipped his head back and laughed, and Naruto's cheeks tinged pink. "Laugh all you want, doll boy… it's true."

Kankurō knew full well it was true. That was why he laughed. When he finished, he wiped his eye and said to Naruto, "Where is she right now, anyways?"

Kankurō's intrigue in Hinata made Gaara curious. "Why do you need to know?" he asked his brother.

He was automatically on the defensive. "Maybe I want to speak with her. Maybe I want to conspire to kick Naruto's ass." Naruto's blush increased.

"I dunno where she went… she always disappears on me when we do these kinds of visits," muttered Naruto. His brow furrowed. "Especially when we get here… I wonder what she does here that she refuses to let me know about." A momentary blush crossed Kankurō's cheeks; something that didn't go unnoticed by Gaara or Naruto. _Interesting…_thought the young Kazekage as he watched his brother walk off, leaving him, Naruto, and Temari alone in his office.

Kankurō knew exactly where to find her; he just needed to ascertain that Naruto didn't know where she was. Neither of them wanted either Kage to find out about the full extent of their relationship. Kankurō jogged up the steps, taking two at a time; until he reached the roof top where Gaara often stood watching the sun set in the desert. He couldn't figure out what Gaara found so damn entertaining about sunsets, but he did figure out that it was the perfect place to meet someone.

Hinata's long hair was loose, flowing down her back, and she leaned against the clay wall, watching the sun hang low over the sandy horizon with some amount of interest. Her lilac eyes didn't seem to miss a moment. Kankurō paused for a second before he walked behind her, wrapping his arms around the Leaf kunoichi's small waist and kissing her soft neck.

"Hina-hime," muttered Kankurō, "Welcome back."

"Hello, Kurō-koi," she whispered, her eyes not leaving the sun. "I trust no one tailed you here…"

"Of course not," replied Kankurō, nibbling at the soft skin and reveling in her gasp. "It is only us." His hand rose up to the zipper of her flak vest, pulling it down. He wanted to be close to her—he did, after all, only have a few days to make up for six months worth of missed moments.

The two had a sexual relationship that had been going on for about three years now; ever since Hinata had first started as Naruto's bodyguard. Of course, with their busy, hectic schedules as shinobi; they rarely had time to see each other. They took whatever moments they could get; enjoying them while they lasted.

The two cared deeply for each other, but as far as the world was concerned their relationship was purely one out of work. They rarely spoke to each other as they watched the Kages; or at least in the public eye. They shook hands as they left each other's villages. No one could truly read underneath; since they were so good at hiding their feelings for one another. Neither would admit it aloud in front of their friends and family, but they knew that they loved each other.

* * *

_**(A/N): Okay, let's just say this is basically where the lemon starts. Feel free to skip to the end of the chapter. The lemon ends at the next Author's Note (A/N). **_

* * *

The kunoichi turned in the puppeteer's arms, pressing her lips to his hungrily as his hand traveled underneath the open jacket, touching her breast through her fishnet shirt. She moaned, giving Kankurō the opportunity to slip his tongue into the kiss. She pulled the cat hat off of Kankurō's head and explored his scalp, making the nerve endings tingle in excitement. If possible, Kankurō was aroused even more. His hand slipped underneath her shirt and bra to rub his thumb against her nipple, and he swallowed her aroused scream.

"Uhm, Hinata, I missed hearing that," he murmured hotly against her lips. "Fuck, I just wanna… I wanna take you right here, right now. You have no idea what you're doing to me right now, hime…"

"So do it," she said, slipping her hand into Kankurō's pants and taking his manhood in her hand; pumping his aroused member softly. Kankurō groaned in excitement. He ripped apart the fishnet shirt, lowering his lips to her breast and sucking on a nipple. She tilted her head back, holding back a moan of pleasure by biting her lip.

"I plan to," he whispered, "Just not here… in a more comfortable setting." Kankurō raised his head, withdrawing from her breast and making her gasp in frustration. She didn't stop her ministrations upon his manhood, and to be quite honest he didn't want her to. He instead braced his arms on the wall behind her. "God…" he said, closing his eyes. "Hinata… just like that. Keep going just like that." She didn't listen, instead choosing to pump harder and faster than before. His mouth hung open, and she solicited groans of arousal from her lover. Further aroused and more confident in her abilities to pleasure him, she lowered herself to her knees, unzipping his pants further. She kissed his tip while continuing to pump, and then replaced her hands with her mouth. His breath caught in his throat and he grabbed her hair. "Just like that… oh, God, Hinata, you're like heaven. Fuck."

Hinata was smiling on the inside. She knew she could make him do whatever she wanted. She had him wrapped around her little finger. She removed her lips from around him, making him gasp out in disappointment. She pressed her body against him as she stood up, her breasts rubbing against his chest. She smiled, blushing like mad, and she said, "That's what you get for teasing me."

He grinned wolfishly, his eyes half-lidded, and he claimed her lips as his again. "Um, you little minx… the things you do to me…" He picked her up bridal-style, making her blush deepen and getting a small, amused giggle out of the kunoichi. He pressed his lips against hers again. "God, you taste like vanilla… it's so hot." She noticed that his erection didn't falter; and she wondered if he was getting enough blood circulating everywhere.

Faster than she thought; she was in his bedroom, being tossed onto his mattress. He pulled off the flak jacket and what remained of the fishnet, once again feasting on her breasts with new-found passion. She moaned now, knowing they were fully alone, and she fisted his hair in between her fingers. His tongue felt amazing against her hardened nipples and he made a fire burn in the bottom of her belly. His hand traveled down her body, slipping under her pants and panties. He touched her lower lips, teasing her wet entrance, and she moaned again.

"Oh, God. Kankurō," she said hotly, her eyes closed tightly.

"Talk dirty to me, Hina-hime," he whispered huskily, nibbling on her right nipple and pushing his index finger into her hot womanhood. She cried out again, unable to think straight when he played with her like that.

"Uhm… fuck me, Kurō," she said, "Fuck me just like that."

"Not enough. Give me more."

"It's so wet… I'm so wet for you, Kankurō…"

"Do you want me?"

"Oh, yes… oh, _fuck _yes, Kankurō…" He kissed the valley of her breast, slowly and sloppily kissing his way down; leaving a damp trail. She raised her head and forced her heavy lids open to watch him. Knowing she had her eyes on him, he kissed and sucked on the skin just before her pants, making her moan. He smiled and kissed the small hickey he'd given her just before he used his free hand to pull down her pants, getting on his knees above her so she could kick off the clothing. He looked down at his lover with pure lust. She was trembling with lust and arousal. He pushed a second finger inside of her as he kissed and sucked at her heat. She ceremoniously moaned his name, like a mantra, and it only made him harder to hear the desire that so obviously laced her voice.

"Kankurō… Kankurō… oh, Kankurō, I'm…!" she gasped out before she came, her hips thrusting outward to push Kankurō's face into warmth. Kankurō licked her clean and then brought his lips up to hers. She tasted the slightly salty liquid that had come from her on his lips. She should've found it disgusting, but it was such a turn-on for her.

"Do you want more?" he murmured against her jaw.

"Oh… yes…" Her hands traveled up underneath his shirt, feeling the hard muscle against her soft fingers before she forced him to pull his shirt off; disheveling his hair. The Kabuki makeup on his face was somehow not a distraction for her; it never was. It didn't stop her from kissing him like he was salvation. Yet, when they made love, it seemed to be ceremony for Kankurō to reach behind her and grab a seemingly always wet towel from his bedside table and wipe off his face; letting himself be completely bare to her. She was the only woman that he would take off the face paint for.

He kissed her with his now naked lips, pulling down his pants as he did. His free hand played with her breast again. She brought her legs up to wrap around his hips, pulling him in closer. She brushed her hand across his nipple; making it harden. He needed to satiate his desire; the erection that only seemed to be endlessly growing. With a possessive kiss and a playful growl, he thrusted in her hot, wet tightness.

"Fuck, you feel so fucking good, Hina," he growled as he thrusted deeply. She didn't respond with words, she simply nodded and moved her hips; moaning as he moved within her. He was glad that her tightness didn't go away; it always excited him more. Her nails dug into his bare back, clawing at him. He brought himself closer to her as he moved, making her breasts press against his chest. The movement of her breasts acted to make him move faster and plunge harder.

"Yes, Kankurō… oh yes. Keep going. Oh, Kankurō," said Hinata uncontrollably. "Uhm, Kankurō…! Go faster." He heeded her, moving more swiftly and definitely more desperately. "Oh, I'm going to come… oh…" Her inner walls tightened around Kankurō as she hit her orgasm, forcing him to orgasm as well; spilling his seed within her. Their pants filled the room.

* * *

_**(A/N): The lemon's pretty much over right here. **_

* * *

"Hina… I love you," he whispered huskily as he removed himself from her, his body pressing hers into the mattress. He pressed kisses into her shoulder and neck.

"I love you, too, Kurō," she panted, feeling beads of sweat on the back of his neck. Of course she loved him; she'd remained loyal to only him. Even when they were separated for months at a time, they managed to keep loyal to one another. It was not unknown amongst the two of them that they were more than just sex buddies; but they were truly lovers.

Kankurō finally rolled off of her, spooning against her back. He continued to kiss her neck and murmur words of love into her ear. Spent, the two shinobi fell into a comfortable sleep.

* * *

Outside of the bedroom door, the two Kage's faces were bright red with mortification. They both had their suspicions about the nature of Kankurō's relationship with Hinata, especially after Naruto confessed that Hinata had been the one to force him to come early to the Kage's summit. They had shooed Temari away and decided to follow the large, tall man; shocked to find him touching Hinata. And the rest of what happened on that balcony… well, Gaara knew he would have to find a new place to watch the sunset.

Of course, Naruto had convinced Gaara to follow the two wherever the hell it was that Kankurō was taking her; unsurprised it led to the bedroom. But the two heard what they'd said to each other, not to mention the noises of the physical act itself…

Naruto's blue eyes were wide. "So that's why Kankurō wanted to know where Hinata-chan was," he finally said.


	2. Chapter 2

_**So, no reviews for the last chapter. That's okay. I was kinda looking forwards to feedback, but at least I got followers/favoriters. Thanks, guys; it means a lot to see that you all enjoy my story. So my thank-you's go towards: Aki666, Yu Nguyen, kaito kenshin! You're all so nice! :) **_

_**On with the chapter! I hope you guys like it :) **_

_**AGES OF THE MAJOR CHARACTERS (for all those curious): Gaara-20, Hinata-20, Naruto-20, Shikamaru-20, Temari-23, Kankuro-22. **_

* * *

Upon becoming one of the two official bodyguards of the Sixth Hokage, Shikamaru had been ecstatic, a feeling that confused him due to the fact that being a bodyguard for the leader of Konohagakure would be… well, work. Shikamaru was usually one of those guys who honestly didn't aspire to be anything; and he was happy at whatever point it was at. Some found it ironic when Shikamaru sped through the shinobi rankings; becoming an ANBU agent and a damned fine one at that. He consistently; though somewhat hesitantly, took each mission and new ranking bestowed upon him. But when he became a bodyguard of the most powerful shinobi in the village; he'd felt a surge of… pride.

_I guess my kid has something to be proud of when it comes to his old man, _he thought in a happy tone. Shikamaru took the position with the widest grin Naruto had ever seen on his face.

Of course, he wasn't prepared for how truly (in his terms) troublesome the job would be. Every stupid request that Naruto asked him for he'd have to adhere to. It was annoying, retarded, and it didn't sit quite to well with him. Being the bodyguard of the Hokage did finally get Sabaku no Temari interested him romantically, that he would admit; but in all other respects the entire job was an immense pain in the ass.

This was, sadly, one of those moments. He'd expected that upon arriving in Sunagakure that he would get to relax and spend time with _his _Temari. He even brought something for the baby; the one she insisted she would give birth to in Suna instead of Konoha—a concession that he had to give, for he wanted her happiness above his own. He just wanted to spend time with her; which both their busy scheduled seemed intent on preventing.

But, no, he would not get to relax and spend time with Temari. Instead, he was standing in front of Naruto and Gaara, staring at them as if they'd lost their minds—which, in Shikamaru's mind, they had. _They're interrupting time I could be spending with the fucking LOVE OF MY LIFE for this bullshit? And they're saying it's a mission too? Are they fucking insane? _Now, while Shikamaru was lazy; he was by no means of the imagination stupid. Obviously, these two Kages seemed to be forgetting how much of a genius Nara Shikamaru was. His mind went through all of his options and different scenarios, and all he came back with was a bruised, beaten, and bloody remnant of his body. After Hinata beat him senseless.

"So, let me get this straight," Shikamaru finally said to the two serious village leaders. "You want me to spend the entire Kage's summit trying to get Hinata; the emotionally damaged kunoichi who can kill me with her pinky, to admit out loud in a public space that she's in love with Kankurō; the equally emotionally damaged and incredibly insecure brother of the Kazekage, also known as 'that murderous asshole from the sand without eyebrows'?"

Gaara's eyebrow-less face twitched, and a vein bulged in his temple. As the sand rose up around him, twitching to kill the father of his yet-to-be-born nephew; Naruto tried to 'diplomatically' gain a hold back on the conversation.

This meant that he would somehow make it a little bit worse.

"Hey, Gaara's not a murderous asshole!" said Naruto without thinking.

Stiffly, the red-head turned to his fellow Kage, his aquamarine eyes flashing murderously at him now. Truth be told; Gaara wasn't upset at being called a murderous asshole: he was called that all the time by Kankurō and Temari; not to mention other villagers. What pissed him off was that Shikamaru said he didn't have eyebrows, which technically was true but he didn't like his physical flaws being pointed out to him; like his apparent insomnia problems. What tipped him over the edge was that Naruto defended him about being a murderous asshole but not about the part of having no eyebrows.

Naruto shivered with the apparent bloodlust in Gaara's eye, and for the second time that day raised his hand up shakily, repeating his earlier statement in an equally shaky voice: "Gaara… no need to be hasty…" Unlike before, the Kyūbi wasn't laughing at Naruto's fear. It was instead saying, _YOU FUCKING IDIOT! YOU __**KNOW**__ HOW GAARA FEELS ABOUT HAVING NO EYEBROWS! NOW WE'RE BOTH GONNA DIE AND IT'S ALL YOUR FUCKING FAULT!_ From the amount of fear, Naruto passed out, falling out of his chair and onto the floor, drool falling out of his open mouth.

Gaara sighed, shaking his head and letting the sand pool around him on the floor again. "He's such a baka," he said, sighing again. Shikamaru pondered whether or not he should pick up his body and at least drag him back into the chair; but all he ended up doing was grabbing the chair, pulling it around Gaara's desk and using it for himself. He pulled out his pack of cigarettes from his back pouch, putting one in his mouth and lighting it.

Gaara wrinkled his nose but he didn't make the Nara male stop smoking. "And to answer your question," said Gaara, putting his elbows on the desk, "I do want you to make Kankurō and Hinata admit it."

Shikamaru already knew about their little relationship. Hinata had once gotten a pregnancy scare while in Kirigakure when Naruto was busy with diplomatic relations, and Shikamaru had been forced to run out for the pregnancy test that he affectionately called 'The Pee Stick of Truth'. It had come out negative, thankfully enough for Hinata; but she had to tell him who it was that Hinata was with that she'd even had a pregnancy scare. He'd assumed that she was pristine and pure… a virgin. It shocked him when he'd realized she wasn't; but even further that the prospective father would be _Kankurō_, of all people.

Of course, from that point on he seemed to hear them whenever they were doing it, so the shock wore off rather quickly. He paled as he remembered the first time he'd heard them going at it. It was almost three AM, and they were going at it like they'd just done cocaine! Plus… it was _scary_. And, beyond that, _loud_. Shikamaru had to buy special-grade earplugs that he couldn't sleep without anymore.

"How did you find out?" asked Shikamaru, sighing.

Gaara's face turned bright red, a color Shikamaru hadn't seen on his skin before… he was sure, up until this point, that Gaara wasn't capable of the emotion of _embarrassment. _"It… it doesn't matter," said Gaara shakily, "I just need you to make them admit it… they shouldn't have to hide or anything."

"Technically speaking, they're not hiding. I'm pretty sure that they don't lock the door," said Shikamaru, his own blush kicking up. No, he knew for sure—he'd almost walked in on them once because Kankurō didn't believe in locks. If it hadn't been for Hinata screaming out in ecstasy… well, God knows what he would've seen. "Plus, if you've ever been in the same country with them while they're going at it… you'd know that they tend to be kind of…"

"Loud, I know," interrupting Gaara, his shade of red reminding Shikamaru of those cherries people put on top of ice cream sundaes. Shikamaru grinned inwardly; amused that he wasn't the only one subjected to the torture of Kankurō and Hinata's lovemaking.

"Well, yeah…. But the problem with your plan is that Hinata entrusted me with a secret. I can't just ruin it now because you two want to play Cupid. I think it's much better should you let them admit it to you over time."

"Why can't they just admit it now?" asked Gaara, confused.

Shikamaru sighed; realizing Gaara was about as attuned to human emotions and realities as a rock. Shikamaru sat forward, feeling obligated to give Gaara a piece of knowledge.

"Okay, look. Hinata's emotionally damaged due to the fact that her father can't accept who she is to her face or even show any hint of pride towards an accomplishment of hers. Besides that, she's an heiress to a clan where they think that love is something for children… their loyalties lie in the passing of the Gentle Fist from generation to generation; which means that they are constantly intermarrying with each other. Of course, it doesn't help her that she happens to have what Hiashi's referenced to as a 'baby-bearing body'… which, in case you don't know, is large hips, healthy and strong bones, and a kind of, erm, _ample_ chest."

Gaara squirmed awkwardly. He probably never got the sex talk when he was younger. Shikamaru knew that Gaara didn't want to have this conversation, which Shikamaru understood perfectly; he didn't want to have this conversation with his lover's little brother either. Yet, he continued.

"Hinata has been taught from day one not to love, not to give oneself over to the temptations of sex, and to only be with a Hyūga. Obviously, Hinata has broken all three of these cardinal rules; and she can't let her father know about it. If he does realize that she isn't pure come time for her to be wed; he'd disown her so fast her head would spin. And she'd consider herself a shame."

Gaara nodded, and Shikamaru let himself continue.

"And on the case of Kankurō… he was born with the expectation to be as great as his father; the Kazekage. He then was cast aside the moment you were born, as you contained Shukaku. All of your father's time was spent on training you to be a weapon instead of paying attention to Kankurō. It didn't help matters that your mother died in the process of giving birth to you, leading to Kankuro's deep hatred of children.

"Kankurō was cast into your shadow when you began to kill; even further when your reputation started to precede you, while nobody knew of him. He stopped showing feelings of love towards anyone; and he's only just learning how to accept things now. He still feels that he's out-shined by you; who everyone wants to be with. He's afraid that if he lets people know about Hinata, she might change on him. He's afraid that she'd only want the title of being _Sabaku no Kankurō's girlfriend_ and the fame that comes with it. And then he'd be ashamed of himself for letting someone not related to him by blood in and close up again to the world."

Gaara seemed shocked. "How do you know that?" he asked.

Shikamaru smiled grimly and tossed the remainder of his cigarette onto the ground, crushing it with the toe of his sandal. "I strategize and observe for fun, Gaara," he said, "And it's so easy to read emotions and problems within people just by the way they hold themselves." He heard a groan, and he looked down at the waking Naruto. "Ah, Naruto, how nice of you to join us. Gaara and I were having a great conversation."

"You asshole, you took my chair," groaned Naruto, holding his head.

"That I did. It was my charge for you being so troublesome."

Naruto groaned again and pulled himself up, sitting cross-legged on the floor. "But… will you do this for me, Shikamaru? As a friend?"

"Friend is a relative term, Naruto."

"Acquaintance?" tried Naruto.

"I didn't even know that word was in your vocabulary."

"Har, har. But will you? I just want them to be happy."

"They are happy," said Shikamaru, once again lighting up a cigarette. "I say just let 'em do their own thing. They'll come around once they're ready."

Gaara seemed lost in thought. "They might not," he finally said. Both Leaf ninjas looked at the tattooed Kazekage. His aquamarine eyes were filled with intelligence. "Based on what you've just told me, the chances of them going public with a relationship like theirs are slim to none—actually, I should say that there's roughly an eighty-percent possibility of them actually being public about it. With those figures being counted, odds are that without the proper pushing they might keep it to themselves. Then Hinata would be stuck in a loveless marriage with a second or third cousin; popping out kids like a Pez dispenser pops out candy. And then Kankurō might be filled with regrets and become one of those guys who asks random little girls to come into his shop to play with his puppets." Shikamaru doubted the latter; but the rest he definitely agreed with. Gaara's eyes darted to the side and his face went red again. "Plus, maybe if they admit it to everyone… they won't fuck so often."

Now Shikamaru was sold.

Operation 'Get Kankurō and Hinata Together Legitimately' was a go.

* * *

"Achoo!" cried out Hinata, placing her hand on her nose. _Was someone just talking about me?_ she wondered.

Kankurō pulled his face out from her neck and those achingly pleasurable movements he was making with his fingers ceased. His brow creased in concern for this woman. He raised his cleaner hand to her forehead, pressing against her skin to see if she was running a temperature. "Do you have a cold? Because if you do, I can get you some medicine…"

Hinata smiled. Kankurō was just too kind to her. She shook her head and kissed him, running her thumb along his stubble-covered jaw. "No," she murmured against his lips, "I'm perfectly alright."

"That's good to hear," he whispered, kissing her back. His hand didn't return to those movements it was making in her lower regions. He instead rolled off of his lover, lying down on his back. The thin linen blankets were strewed around their hips, disguising their most private of body parts. Though the room was cold, their bodies glistened with light sweat, making the glow from the sun coming through the window seem to play on their skin. He sighed as he stopped kissing her, his eyes trained on the ceiling.

She snuggled against him, laying her head down on his chest. His hand automatically went to rub her hair, running his fingertips against her scalp. She felt more alive when she was with him more than she was when she was anywhere else. She loved the feeling; and it ached at her when she had to let it go for months at a time. She wished she never had to let him go, but she was firmly attuned to the realities of her situation. Eventually, despite her intense feelings for him and him for her; they would have to let each other go.

"What's wrong? We can't be sad during this time," whispered Hinata, her hand rubbing Kankurō's wet skin. As she touched, she tried to absorb the little details of him into her body and mind: the speed at which his heart raced, the little hairs that covered his chest, the softness of his skin, the scars that covered his entire torso. Little things that she couldn't afford to miss.

"I'm not sad. I'm just… well, fuck it, I am sad," admitted Kankurō, sighing. "I just… I don't… I don't want to lose you, Hinata. I love you too much to lose you."

She raised her head to place her chin in his chest, looking up at him. Kankurō's eyes were filled with determination to never let her go. "You know as well as I do that it has to happen," she whispered, "It's… destiny, I think. You know I was born with this obligation to my clan…"

"And I was born to be my father's copy. Obviously, that hasn't happened," said Kankurō, biting his unpainted lip. "Hinata, you can be with me if you want to, and I know you do. Just forget about your clan and stay with me."

"I don't want to lose my family," she said, holding back tears. "I love you, but I don't know what I would possibly do if I were to lose my family over you. Besides, my father would put you to death if he knew I gave my heart to you; if I renounced my claims to the clan and left it for you. He'd put you to death and force me to marry in the same day, probably the same hour, and force me to take over the clan. He'd break me like that and have fun doing it."

"If your father loves you, he'd set you free," said Kankurō stubbornly.

"You don't understand," said Hinata, pushing off of Kankurō and sitting up in the bed, preparing to pick up her clothing and get dressed. She refused to have this type of conversation with him. She didn't want an argument when they didn't have the time for one. This time was spent for loving each other and savoring every touch and every moment; not for fighting and being angry with each other for points the other couldn't understand.

"No, Hina, don't leave," said Kankurō, sitting up and grabbing her shoulders, massaging them with her thumbs. Kankurō knew he'd pissed her off, and he knew she was right in her anger with him. He pushed her after they'd specifically agreed that they wouldn't do that to each other. He kissed the back of her still slick neck. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I know you hate talking about your family; and I just pushed you on it… just don't leave." He trailed kisses along her neck and shoulder. "I just love you so much and I don't want you to get hurt…"

She sighed, leaning into him. He relaxed now that he was sure that she wasn't going to leave him alone. "I know you love me, Kankurō," she whispered tiredly, "I would feel the same way if your family were trying to marry you off to your cousins. But please don't talk about it. I don't want these moments spoiled." She laid her head against his shoulder, and he wrapped his arms around his lover's nude body, their breathing in sync. "You know, if we were normal people, we wouldn't have to worry about things like this," she said. Kankurō smiled and kissed her hair. It was a situational game they often played; wondering what it would be like to not be shinobi; to not be with so many conditions because of family. To be a regular couple.

"If we were normal people… I would've asked you to marry me the moment I realized that you were it for me." She smiled and let her hand travel to Kankurō's. They were larger than hers, almost double the size of hers; but they were warm and soft. And they were beyond gentle.

"When did you realize that I was it for you?" she asked out of curiosity.

"When I saw you holding your own against your cousin during the Chūnin exams. You might've lost, but… I thought you were the strongest thing I've ever seen in my life for going against him." Hinata turned in his arms. Her eyes glistened with tears. Kankurō smiled at her and pressed his lips against her cheeks, directly under her eyes. "I loved you for being so much stronger than I would ever hope to be."

"You're stronger than you think," murmured Hinata, her hands splayed against his bared chest.

Kankurō pulled back, grinning sheepishly. "I don't know about that."

She giggled. "Kurō-koi. You're so self-conscious and shy. I love that about you." He pretended to pout, and she giggled more and kissed his bottom lip. "I'm tired. I think my journey is finally taking its toll on me."

"It may just be all the love making," suggested Kankurō.

"Uhm, don't be dirty!" squealed Hinata, pushing him onto his back. Kankurō kept snickering. She narrowed her eyes and grabbed a pillow; hitting him in the face. Kankurō kept laughing, wrapping his arms around Hinata's hips and pulling her down to lay on top of him; the both of them laughing. Their laughs left the room, resounding through the house and into Shikamaru's ears.

"Maybe this won't be as troublesome as I thought," he said, smiling.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Yay! People like the story! And I thought people would find it utter crap. Damn, it makes me happy that people like something like this, which seems now to be a little juvenile in writing form for me now. And I thought this was simplistic... but whatever! People LIKE this! **_

_**Thanks to the Followers/Favoriters: **__**Akatsuki's Hinata-hime**__**, **__**Aki666**__**, **__**SarcasticScript**__**, **__**Yu Nguyen**__**, **__**kaito kenshin**__**, **__**mangagranatcat**__**! **_

_**To Yu Nguyen: hehe, thanks :) I'm glad to know you really enjoy my stories. It makes me feel proud of myself to know that! I'll try to do my best with this latest chapter. **_

_**To mangagranatcat: I'm glad to know you're curious enough to stick with it. Like I've said before, I found this story silly and funny, but that's possibly just because I'm the writer. There's a chance it has absolutely no humor to some people, in which case, I'll change the genre listing. **_

_**DISCLAIMER: This is straight from my head, un-beta'd, and none of these characters are my own. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto. (Damn, but how awesome would it be if they were mine? So many characters would still be alive! LOL. x3) **_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

"So, Hinata-chan, how about we go into the village tonight?"

Hinata's head snapped up, her pale eyes showing confusion. Shikamaru carefully gauged her facial reactions as she stared at the back of Naruto's head. The two of them were helping him with the Kage's robes, which had confused them at first; why Naruto needed help, until they saw the different strips of cloth that Naruto had to dress himself in as the Hokage. Now it was an average occurrence. Of course, they all tried to pretend that they weren't helping him with this—the three of them were rather proud and didn't want to be seen helping each other dress, people may get the wrong idea. Though, today was different. Naruto purposefully broke the barrier as part of his plan.

"With Shikamaru-san, too, right?" asked Hinata, her face turning red. She turned her attention back to the brick red cloth. "Wow, is this Egyptian cotton? It's really soft…"

"You know I what I meant," sighed Naruto. He knew she'd be difficult, but he had no idea she'd try to switch conversations so weakly. "Me, you, out in Sunagakure. For dinner, maybe… maybe even something more?"

If Hinata was drinking something, she would've choked. Her Adam's apple bobbed in her throat, and her pale eyes were filled with so much surprise that Shikamaru wanted to keel over, dying of laughter. She was just too cute sometimes, in his opinion. She reminded him more of a new-born kitten than a twenty-year-old kunoichi. The heat in her face slowly kicked up a few notches, and Shikamaru wondered if she was getting enough blood everywhere.

He finally got his answer. She dropped like a rock, her body making a dull thudding noise as she hit the floor. She'd fainted, cold. Naruto stood up, turning around to see Hinata's red, unconscious face. He sighed, rubbing his blond hair and closing his eyes, frowning. "Well… I can't really say that I expected her to do anything less. What're we going to do with her?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "She'll come to eventually. You know that she'll say yes anyways; even if it's just as friends. She aims to please."

"I know… I just hate it when she faints. It makes me feel like dirt 'cause I'm the only one who seems to make her faint," replied Naruto in an annoyed voice. "Even if she doesn't have feelings for me anymore; she still faints when I surprise her."

"You knew about her crush?" asked Shikamaru, surprised.

"Of course. I'm not that stupid; it was so obvious," said Naruto, opening one blue eye to look at the pineapple-haired shinobi besides him. "I just wanted her to admit it to me without blushing. She did, when she fought Pein four or five years ago. But when I confronted her about it two years ago, she said she moved on." He suddenly grinned. "I guess that was her way of confessing that she and Kankurō were together, even then."

Shikamaru nodded sagely. "Makes sense, I think." Hinata began to come around, groaning in pain as she touched her forehead. She searched her surroundings, confused, until her eyes found Naruto and Shikamaru standing in front of her; looking down at her with concern. Redness plagued her cheeks as she sat up. She was embarrassed that she'd fainted… again… because of Naruto.

"I'm sorry," apologized Hinata.

"It's okay," said Naruto honestly, smiling down at his kunoichi friend. Even though she was strong enough to break him in half and then go out for miso afterwards, she still fainted… to Naruto it was adorable. "But, you know… how about that village thing tonight? Just friends, I promise."

Hinata hesitated before smiling lightly and nodding. "Sure. I don't see why not. I'll go, as friends." On the inside, her twelve-year-old self was freaking out, scared beyond belief. _What if he's got something more planned? Not just friends? Oh, God, what will Kurō-koi think of me?_ the young Hinata fretted. It annoyed Hinata because she was worried about what Kankurō might think about this. She wasn't sure if he would be the type to get insanely jealous for no real reasons behind it. It wasn't quite like they had a real relationship.

For once, that irritated Hinata. Her brow furrowed, and she bit her lip. It made her mad to think that she loved Sabaku no Kankurō with all of her heart, though due to fear they would never make it official. She wanted that. She wanted to hold hands with him in public. She wanted a date. She never got to have one. Yes, she got sex. Yes, he loved her. Yes, they saw each other as often as possible. But that didn't mean to say that she didn't want something more.

She truly wanted a chance at real relationship, a relationship like what Chōji and Ino had.

Naruto noticed tenseness in her temple, and her pale eyes clouded with sadness and anger. He had a feeling that she was thinking about Kankurō. He was excited on the inside. If she was thinking about Kankurō with _that _face, than the plan was going right on target. He raised his eyebrows at Shikamaru, who rolled his eyes and turned on his heel. "I'm gonna go find Temari, Naruto," he said in a lazy, annoyed tone.

"Fine," replied Naruto, rolling his eyes at his lazy friend. "Hinata, I'm gonna go find Gaara so we can go into that stupid meeting. Do you wanna just meet me outside our quarters?"

Hinata seemed to come out of her thoughts finally. She looked up at Naruto again and smiled at him again, though she still seemed miffed. "Right. Of course. Have a good meeting, Hokage-sama." Naruto blushed. Hinata knew that he liked it whenever she called him _Hokage-sama. _It made him feel incredibly important. After all these years, he still wasn't used to the amount of respect that came with the title.

"Ah, Hinata…" said Naruto in a shy, quiet whisper, "You know I'm just Uzumaki Naruto."

"Who is the youngest Hokage since the Fourth," said Hinata, standing up and fixing the robes around Naruto's neck, arranging the cloth strips on his shoulder. She kissed his cheek softly, whispering, "And is the strongest, kindest man that I know. Have a good summit, Naruto-sama." With that, she left the room, leaving Naruto with a small smile on his face. She really was a sweet girl. Kankurō deserved to have her.

* * *

"Oi, Kankurō!" yelled out a voice from behind the puppeteer. Kankurō steadied his hand as not to smear the Kabuki paint he was only just putting finishing touches on in front of a mirror just outside of Gaara's quarters. Kankurō turned around, sighing irritably at the lazy pineapple-haired loser that knocked up his sister. Kankurō scowled and then turned his attention back to his face. His whole body was tired and sore from the time spent inside the room, and he was tired. He was pretty sure that in total they'd gotten two hours of sleep. While he loved Hinata, they needed to work out real sleeping arrangements. His whole body was screaming at him for being such a moron.

"Shikamaru," acknowledged Kankurō, touching the purple paint onto his cheek bone carefully. "What do you want?"

"Well, Gaara's decided that I need to get to know you better," said Shikamaru, sighing. "Something about that it's not good for family to hate family or something like that. Anyways, we're supposed to do some bromance thing tonight."

"Don't hate you. You're off the hook," muttered Kankurō, finishing with the paint. The particular style he'd chosen was to hide a hickey that Hinata had decided to give him on his cheek. He was blushing now, remembering what he'd had to do with her to get that hickey. He touched his pinky to the tip of his nose, making sure there was no blood coming out of it.

"You don't particularly like me, either."

"Of course not. You knocked up my sister and you're not married. She deserves a little better than getting knocked up. Plus, now she thinks she can't leave for her ambassador jobs," said Kankurō, flicking a glance at Shikamaru before touching his finger to his painted face, ascertaining that the paint was drying. "Besides, I can't tonight. I'm busy."

"Busy with what? All you have are a bunch of puppets," said Shikamaru, grinning and stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Look, it's not exactly like I want to do this either. You're not exactly my favorite Sand Sibling, either. But Temari's been bitching about it to Gaara, and since Gaara's got this Kage summit he's not exactly keen to hear complaints about the menial. This is his way of taking care of it. And you can be sure that if Temari kills me for bullshitting my way out of this, Gaara's gonna slaughter you. Besides… Gaara's coming with us."

Kankurō raised a painted eyebrow. "_My_ socially retarded brother is willingly going out in public?" he asked incredulously.

"I also never said it was a good idea. This whole ordeal is just so damned troublesome, but I want to live to actually hold my kid in my hands someday," sighed Shikamaru, his hand drifting to his weapons pouch to pull out his almost empty pack of cigarettes. He sighed again in disappointment, wondering if he could slightly deviate from the plan so he could buy a new pack. "Hey, speaking of my kid, I'm gonna go spend time with them. You're all good, right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, whatever," grunted Kankurō. "So bromance crap tonight, right? You, me, and Gaara?" The latter sounded physically wrong on Kankurō's tongue when speaking about something like male bonding, but he resisted the urge to projectile-vomit.

Shikamaru nodded awkwardly. "Correct." Since the two of them had nothing polite or even remotely civil to say to each other, they turned and walked in the opposite directions; Shikamaru heading towards Temari for real now and Kankurō to find Hinata to tell her that he would need to meet her later for their nightly escapades. Kankurō wanted to bite on his lip in irritation, but he knew that this Kabuki paint tasted bad and he wasn't exactly keen to have any of it on his teeth.

Hinata was just walking out of Naruto's quarters, finding Kankurō out in the hall. She nearly called 'Kurō-koi' before she was reminded by the passing of an ambassador from the Hidden Cloud that they were in a public place. She bit her lip to keep herself from screaming out in anger. Kankurō saw the look of frustration in Hinata's face and he felt horrible that he was inflicting it. To relieve the tension, Kankurō bowed politely to the Leaf ANBU. "Lady Hinata."

She nodded. "Lord Kankurō."

Kankurō straightened and looked his lover in the eye. "May I speak with you privately, Lady Hyūga? Before the summit begins?"

She was honestly surprised he acknowledged her beyond the hospitable greetings. She then figured it was simply for sex. _After all, it isn't really a relationship, is it? It's just sex. _She suddenly wanted to deny him, but seeing as the both of them were important people, she had to be diplomatic. And diplomacy was about saying yes, even when you didn't want to. So she nodded, following Kankurō to a study, assumedly his father's old study from the amount of dust that covered the books and surfaces.

He closed the door behind himself before turning to his indigo-haired lover. "Hina, I can't see you tonight as early as I thought," he said, deciding it was best to skip to the point.

"So, what, you want me to strip right now?" she asked in an incredulous, disgusted voice.

Kankurō's eyebrows rose. "No… I mean, if you want to, then I'm not going to stop you, I guess..." He frowned. _Where the hell did that come from?_ "What's wrong? Did I do something to upset you?"

Hinata sighed. "No. You didn't." She toed her sandal into the dusty, stiff carpet. "It's fine, okay? I can't meet you either. I agreed to meet Naruto to go out tonight."

Kankurō stiffened and his eyebrow twitched. He knew full well that she used to have a crush on the Jinchuuriki. He knew that she didn't like him as much anymore; but his jealousy was overpowering him. He didn't want that Naruto _jackass_ anywhere near his Hinata. He bit his lip before saying, "You're going out tonight? With… Naruto…?"

"Yes, as friends," said Hinata, noticing his irritation. _How dare he get pissed!_ she thought irritably, wanting to smack him upside the head. "Why? Is it a problem for me to spend time with anyone else of the male gender besides _Lord Kankurō_?" Her voice was full of acid, and her fists clenched. She was ready for a fight. So was Kankurō.

"I just think that it's a little inappropriate is all, seeing as he's your boss and you're a taken woman," said Kankurō, trying to maintain an even voice. "I'm just not comfortable with you going out with him…"

"…Because you think I'm going to cheat on you, is that why?" asked Hinata.

"No, I just don't think you should trust Naruto. He could have… secret intentions," said Kankurō, grinding his jaw.

Hinata's eyes bugged out. "Are we talking about the same Uzumaki Naruto? The one who thinks that everyone should know everything about his personal life? The same one who goes through lengths to describe how his latest bowel movement went?" asked Hinata, her bloodline activating with her absolute outrage with her love. "You don't trust me, do you? I wouldn't have said yes if I didn't trust Naruto to do nothing!"

"I trust you! I don't trust that fucking moron! I don't want you to get hurt by him!" yelled Kankurō, "I don't think he's worthy of trust! He shouldn't even be your friend; he turned you down like a moron! He hurt you once; I won't put it past him to hurt you again!"

Hinata poked his chest. "I decide who my friends are, Kankurō; not you! You have no right to decide who I hang out with when I'm not with you!"

"I'm not saying that, Hinata! I'm saying that you just shouldn't completely trust him! You don't know what he's thinking!"

"Again; Naruto has absolutely no sense of privacy!" yelled out Hinata, throwing her hands out in frustration.

"Describing a shit is not the same as _making moves on a taken woman_!" yelled out Kankurō.

"I'm _not_ taken!" she yelled out finally. Her eyes went wide now, realizing what she just said to Kankurō. She put her hand to her mouth, unable to close it. Kankurō's face was now blank, his eyes wide and staring down at the woman before him. They stood there, suspended in space as what Hinata just said rang in both their ears. They didn't reach out to touch each other or say a word. They just stood there, stiff, and stared at each other.

He finally broke the tension. "So… what we were doing… and the way we've remained faithful to each other for three years… means nothing to you, Hinata? It means that I'm not yours, and you're not… mine?" he managed to gasp out in shock. Hinata looked away from him. She couldn't believe what she'd said to him. She hadn't meant to. She didn't mean it; but there was no way she could dig herself out of that hole.

"It doesn't seem like it, does it," she whispered, looking down at the floor. "We see each other every couple of months. All we do is have sex, and we don't even acknowledge each other in public. We don't contact each other while we're apart. For all I know, you've been with many other women besides me."

"I have no need to look for another woman. I have you. _Had_ you, I mean." Kankurō's voice was like a growl, and she couldn't help the tears from coming to her eyes. "I _thought_ that _we_ were in _love_, Hinata. I _know_ that _I_ loved _you_."

"_Loved…_? You don't anymore?" she whispered, daring to look up at Kankurō's face. He was absolutely furious; and beyond that heartbroken. It hurt her to look at him.

"Right now? I don't even know."


	4. Chapter 4

_**I think people don't like this story very much. I admit, it's nothing like my usual stuff, but it can't be that bad. Doesn't matter. There's worse crap up on this site, so I'm letting this stay, and there are people who do like this, so... yeah. :3**_

_**Thank you, Favoriters/Followers: **_**_Akatsuki's Hinata-hime_****_, _****_Aki666_****_, _****_SarcasticScript_****_, _****_Yu Nguyen_**_**, **__**kaito kenshin**_**_, _****_mangagranatcat_**_**, and **__**Eli1986**__**!**_

_**Thank you, **__**evilbananalol**__**, for calling this 'fantastic'. You made one very low-esteemed writer very happy. :)**_

_**WARNING: This chapter starts off rather dark, but there's some funny moments, I think, by the end of it. Mostly it's the small amount of drama I couldn't resist writing. **_

_**DISCLAIMER: I don't live in Japan. I'm not male. I don't have crazy awesome artistic skills. I don't have a brother with the same skills. Therefore, I don't own Naruto, however amazing that would be. **_

_**Enjoy! **_

* * *

The silence that came after his statement was unbearable to Hinata. She excused herself quietly, running out of the room. She bumped into Temari on her way out. She simply muttered her apologies to Kankurō's sister, keeping her pace.

Temari's hand drifted to her stomach, watching the pale-eyed kunoichi run off. Her eyes drifted to the study of her late father's, surprised to find Kankuro standing inside. His back was to her; and his hand drifted up to his cat's hat, pulling it off with more anger than she'd ever seen him express. He picked up a mirror from their father's desk, looking at himself in the mirror. He rubbed his thumb roughly against his cheekbone, scraping off the paint. He didn't stop rubbing at his paint until the last bit of paint was off of his face. From the angle she stood at, the look on his face reminded her of their father. Her eyes widened and she grabbed her stomach; now in fear.

"Kank… Kankurō?" she whispered.

Kankurō whipped around to look her in the face. His eye was filled with hatred. "What do you want?" he barked at her.

"What's… wrong?" She cursed herself for being unable to speak evenly, but she was terrified. All the fear and hatred she'd felt for her father while he lived was attacking her now in the form of Kankurō; who was almost his exact physical, and now emotional, copy. She tried to move, but she was afraid that she'd collapse if she had to. She just hoped he wouldn't come any closer…

"Why do you suddenly care?" he snapped at her. She yelped out but didn't respond. Kankurō couldn't take the silence. "Answer me, Temari!"

"_Kankurō!_" barked out a voice. Both siblings turned to their younger brother, whose sand was whipping around him. Gaara looked absolutely pissed, and they both knew it was totally towards Kankurō. Somehow, it didn't faze him. Kankurō evened off the stare; giving him the same one his father used to give him. Gaara's sand whipped out, grabbing Kankurō's right arm and pulling him roughly towards his two siblings. Gaara's eyes flashed murderously. "You may never speak to Temari like that. You have no right."

"So it was alright while you did it to us, huh?" growled Kankurō ferociously.

Gaara resisted the urge to blink. "No. I know it wasn't. It was never okay for me to do it, and I know it. But I'm not that person anymore, Kankurō… and you never were. Temari has done nothing to you." He pushed his finger into the middle of Kankurō's chest. "I have no idea what is plaguing your little mind, but whatever it is, sort the fuck through your shit. If I have to have this conversation with you ever fucking again, I will murder you. Have I made myself perfectly clear?" Kankurō rolled his eyes and snorted. Gaara's hand found its way around his neck. "Kankurō," he growled, "You know I like being acknowledged."

"Yes, dear brother of mine," he finally spat at his brother sarcastically. "Are we done here?"

Gaara wasn't sure what Kankurō's problem was. He had just seen the guy a little over an hour ago, and he seemed perfectly fine. Blissfully happy, even. But now… he was reminding Gaara of his father. And this was scaring the shit out of Gaara. His father had been the one fear in his life besides for Shukaku, and he'd been relieved when he died. He hadn't expected Kankurō to have a little bit, even a micro-sized particle; of his father's personality imprinted in his soul. Kankurō's brown eyes were cold, and Gaara wasn't sure he was completely there.

Gaara sighed and let the sand fall back to his side. "Be sure to meet Nara-san and I outside of my quarters tonight, Kankurō."

Kankurō grunted a reply and looked away. Temari still seemed to be shaken, but her eyes were wrapped around her stomach to keep her baby safe. Kankurō passed them, purposefully bumping into Gaara's suddenly alert sand wall. He leveled a glare at his younger brother before completely leaving the room to go God knows where. Gaara sighed rather shakily and turned his attention to his quivering older sister. He'd never seen her so afraid in her entire life. "Temari, do you need me to get Nara-san for you?"

Temari looked at her brother and shook her head. "No. He's never seen me like this. He wouldn't know what to do even if he wanted to help me out." She let Gaara pull her into a small hug and put his hand on top of her stomach. "The baby is fine," she found herself saying, though it was to reassure herself more than him. Gaara nodded and pulled his hand off of his sister's stomach.

"Did you see anyone else rushing from this room, Temari? Anything that might have acted to set him off like… this?" asked Gaara.

Temari shrugged, still shaken but not quite so much. "Uhm… I saw that girl who got the shit kicked out of her at the Chūnin exams by her cousin. She was running out of the room crying. She bumped into me by accident. I don't know what was wrong with her. Maybe Kankurō was screaming at her like he did at me, and—oh, Gaara, leave me alone, please." Tears had begun to stream down Temari's face, and she pressed her hand onto her cheek to get the tears to stop streaming down his face. Gaara nodded, knowing he wasn't, and never would be, the person to make her feel better.

"I will. Are you sure you don't want me to find Shikamaru for you?"

"I'm sure. Thank you," whispered Temari, pulling her brother in for a sudden, slightly terrifying hug that Gaara had no idea how to get out of. Gaara began to blush, and he awkwardly wrapped his arms around her. He crushed the urge to scream and run away from the physical contact with his sister. His sand wasn't even coming up and stopping her. He wasn't sure what he could possibly do besides saying, 'there, there. Now, now.'

When he was finally released, he couldn't have left the room any faster, nearly running into Shikamaru. One look from Shikamaru told Gaara that he knew what had transpired in the room. Shikamaru nodded at Gaara and slipped into the room to consol the mother of his child. Gaara sighed and rubbed his crimson tattoo. _Damn… if this is Naruto's plan, things have better get to the good point fast; because I might just end up becoming the murderer of my older brother._

* * *

Naruto knew something was up when Hinata finally moped over to him. She was wearing her oversized lavender jacket that he didn't even realize she'd packed; but knew she had worn (and only wore) whenever she felt that she needed extra protection. Her hitai-ate was around her neck, her hair was loose over her shoulders and back. Beyond the physical representation of her obvious shyness and nervousness by hiding her body, her eyes were filled with absolute sadness. It made his heart hurt to see someone he considered to be like a younger sister so sad. Naruto pushed off of the wall, wearing only a mesh t-shirt and a pair of orange track pants. "Hey, Hinata-chan… what's wrong?"

Her eyes snapped to meet his face. "Naruto. Hi."

"What's wrong?" he repeated, coming close to her and putting his hands on her elbows. His eyes were filled with concern for her.

Her eyes then began to avert his. "N-N-Nothing. W-W-W-Why would y-y-y-y-you t-t-t-t-think that?" she mumbled. It stunned her to hear her mumbling in her soft voice and stuttering again… he hadn't heard her stutter in three years. _Hmm… what if that was an affect of Kankurō's? He is good for her, isn't he?_

He tightened his grip on her elbows. "Hinata-chan. I know when something is wrong with my friends. You know you can tell me anything."

Hinata pushed her fingers together, avoiding eye contact. "I-I-I… I know, N-N-Naruto-kun. I-I-I would a-a-absolutely t-tell you if s-something w-w-was wrong."

Naruto sighed. She was about as stubborn as he was, at least when it came to admitting her feelings. Naruto clapped his hands on her upper arms, making her jump. "Well. I guess you're best in the jacket. It's probably cold out there, anyways. So, if you're ready, I'd like to go find something to eat. Maybe some ramen… no. Not ramen. We're going to find zenzai. And, after that, maybe we'll find a cinnamon roll or something." Hinata looked up from under her lashes to a smiling Naruto. She smiled back shyly. _Maybe he'll help me get over Kankurō. Maybe I can show Kankurō that I'm not property. Maybe then he'll truly accept me. _

"M-M-Maybe I-I'll l-leave the j-jacket," she stuttered out.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. When she was this reserved, she never took off the jacket. "You sure?"

"A-Absolutely." She pulled down the zipper, slipping out of the lavender-colored jacket. She remained in the mesh top that seemed to hug her body. The Kyūbi's interest was peaked at the body of the girl. _KID, THAT DOLL-PLAYING GUY IS A MORON. TAKE HER. I WANT TO HEAR HER SCREAM OUT IN PLEASURE. _Naruto suppressed the need to roll his eyes at the fox demon's sexual desires. He wasn't usually this horny; Hinata must've really captured his interest.

_Well, she is beautiful… but she's like my little sister. I just can't see her that way…_thought Naruto as she slid open the door to Naruto's quarters and placed the jacket neatly onto the bed. She looked up at herself in the mirror. She pushed out her bottom lip as she took in her reflection. She pulled her spilling hair back, twisting and turning it into a bun. She then pulled off her hitai-ate, looking at her neck as if she'd never seen it before. He noticed a small bruise on the side of her neck—a hickey. He snickered to himself, which she didn't seem to notice.

"Naruto, m-may we do some shopping a-as well, p-perhaps?" she asked the blond-haired Hokage.

Naruto shrugged. "Yeah, sure. I think I've brought some money." He pulled out his green frog wallet, which was now faded and roughened by the years it spent in Naruto's keep. He knew that twenty was a bit old for a children's frog wallet, and surely it was weird for a leader of an entire village to be in the ownership of such a wallet, but he kept it anyways; like his manga-character sleeping cap. It was those little idiosyncrasies that made him adorably _Uzumaki Naruto_, and his friends all smiled at the fact that he would never change; despite the fact that he had his own fan girls now. Hinata caught sight of it and smiled at the frayed wallet.

"And m-m-maybe w-we can f-f-find another eye f-f-for your wallet…" she suggested. He smirked, looking down. One eye had fallen in his travels; something that had depressed him greatly. Gama-chan just didn't look the same.

"Good idea. Maybe then Gama-chan will smile like he used to!" said Naruto, arms thrust into the air. Hinata giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. Naruto smiled widely, closing his eyes. He looked like a fox to Hinata, and those little whisker birthmarks he had on his cheeks didn't help. She couldn't help but connect Naruto to an animal. She'd done the same thing with Gaara, though it depended on the moment. Sometimes he was an aggressive panda, others he was a sly yet equally aggressive raccoon.

She wasn't sure what Kankurō would be. With his standing right now, he was more like a baboon than anything else, but she knew she was just really pissed. She forced a smile on her face, directed at Naruto. "Yes, m-maybe… let's go, Naruto."

He noticed the sadness, but he decided not to comment on it. "Sure." _Hopefully my plan's going just as I planned… I just hope to God Shikamaru and Gaara don't screw up!_

* * *

"Gaara, do you want to explain to me why we're in a strip club?" sighed Kankurō, seemingly unaffected by the dancing, half naked women, the strobe lights, and the heavy dance music. Honestly, Gaara was surprised. When Shikamaru and Gaara had dragged him in there, he was the only one whose nose _didn't_ bleed at the multitude of nearly-nude women. Kankurō just seemed aggravated to be there, to be out at all.

Gaara sipped the sake. It was about his fifteenth cup, and he only felt slightly buzzed. He didn't truly like drinking, per say; but he was beyond uncomfortable surrounded by the sweaty, probably disease-festered, women with the creepy beady-eyed men. He was more of a stare-from-afar type of man, more so since being rid of the demon. This was more of Kankurō's speed, though it seemed that Shikamaru was enjoying himself the most. His nose hadn't stopped bleeding since they'd stepped into the club.

"I didn't choose the place," said Gaara gruffly before he was distracted by a lithe brown-haired woman who smelled of strawberries. His and Shikamaru's eyes were glued to the woman as she slipped off her tight, tiny bikini top.

Kankurō gave her a look. "Go away, you're annoying me."

"She's not annoying me," said Gaara and Shikamaru irritably to their companion.

"I aim to please the Kazekage," she whispered huskily to Kankurō. She hadn't recognized him; no one did without his facial paint. They only saw a man who seemed to resemble the Fourth Kazekage faintly; but they didn't connect the dots when they saw Gaara tagging along with him. Gaara sighed shakily, wondering how Kankurō would possibly react to the blatant disrespect. Usually, he handled it coolly. He didn't really care what people thought. But this was different. Something must've have been done to Kankurō by Hinata for him to be acting _just _like their father.

Kankurō leaned forward and sneered. "You've interrupted my conversation and disrespected _me_, the son of the Fourth Kazekage; Sabaku no Kankurō. Please be as so kind to get away from me before I kill you." She blinked, and her eyes filled with absolute fear of Kankurō. She grabbed her bikini top of the floor, stumbling back from them as she tried to put the most distance possible between herself and Kankurō's murderous gaze.

Shikamaru whistled. "Damn, you could've just let her down softly."

"That was soft," growled Kankurō, "I didn't even _have_ to give her a warning. I should've just killed her for interrupting me in the first place. What I would've said before she interrupted our conversation, Gaara, is that there's no reason for me to be here. Let's leave."

"Kankurō, at least try to enjoy yourself. You're the Kazekage's brother, you can have any girl you want right now," suggested Shikamaru seriously. "Who do you want—that girl who smelled kind of like pineapples? Or the one who seemed have the largest breasts in the world?"

Kankurō sighed. He didn't want any of them; he wanted _Hinata._ Shy, nervous, beautiful, sexy, intelligent, strong, little Hinata. He wanted to find her, pull her into her arms and kiss her and apologize profusely for what he'd said earlier. He knew he'd hurt her, and he'd forgiven her for what she'd said. It was just tension from earlier on finally reaching its bursting point. He knew that. He also knew that the last thing he'd said to her wasn't true. Because, if it was, he wouldn't currently be in actual physical pain from being away from her. "I don't want any of these women," he said.

"Well, who do you want? It's not like we can't get her. You are fucking rich," said Shikamaru, still trying to goad Kankurō into admitting his love for Hinata, even if it were in the middle of the stinky, slightly slimy strip club. Not exactly the place for one to pour their heart out, but out of anywhere that Shikamaru could think of, surrounded by women who were possibly more physically beautiful than Hinata was would be the best place to make Kankurō confront his feelings.

Even if it meant discomfort for Kankurō.

"She's not someone we could buy, Shikamaru," sighed Kankurō, sitting back in the dirty couch. "She's rich, probably richer than we are. And she's not the type to just be bought, either. She's stubborn as hell…and she's more beauty than money could possibly buy." Kankurō leaned forward again to sip at the rice wine he had sitting on the small table in front of them. "Plus, after today… I doubt that she'll ever want any contact with me, ever again. I fucked it all up."

"I doubt you could screw up that bad. The world isn't that big of a place, especially when our profession is as shinobi. You'll meet up with her, and it'll just be a painful, yet funny memory," said Gaara.

Kankurō glared at him. "Yes, because you're just the expert of human relationships. I just come to you for all sorts of advice about my love life, Gaara. Because I want to know about how to friend zone a girl because I'm too scared to make a move."

Gaara's eyes widened. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Kankurō rolled his eyes and said, "Just shove it, Gaara. You obviously like Matsuri. You just think that you don't deserve her because she's so innocent to you. So you push her away and hope that she doesn't want the big, bad Gaara someday; but you know she does. It honestly makes me sick, how much you push her away because you think that she deserves better than you. Get this through your red head: maybe she doesn't want any better. Maybe she wants you. At least you're not bound by social restrictions or anything. You can be with Matsuri in public. I can't have a relationship with anyone!"

"What's that supposed to mean? What makes you think I can have a relationship?" asked Gaara.

"You're the Kazekage. As long as the council thinks you're not doing demeaning sexual acts you can fuck her all you want during the night and hold her hand like a normal person during the day. Plus, people are too scared of you to try and hurt her or comment about how inappropriate your relationship may or may not be. But, me… I'm your brother. Nobody wants me. People use me to offer up diplomatic relationships between nations via marriage. I'm expected to be perfect for these prospective villages. I can't have any sort of romantic relationship because I know that whatever I choose doesn't matter because when it comes down to it, if you need me for a diplomatic solution, I can't say… no. No matter how much I want to… I have to do what you want before I think about what makes me happy."

Gaara stared at his brother, shocked he'd even think that way. The council had once suggested Kankuro for the type of solutions he'd been talking about, but Gaara had instantly shot the suggestion down. "Kankurō… you're my brother. Not a peace treaty. Yours and Temari's happiness is what I put before the tranquility of the entire village." Kankurō's eyes lifted to meet his brother's jade eyes. "You're not a piece of paper. You're a person who has put up with enough crap in twenty-two years to deserve someone to share the remainder of their life with. We're shinobi, after all; it's not like death isn't just waiting around the corner for us. I want you to live without regrets, especially if that regret could possibly be never being with the love of your life."

Kankurō sighed again. "It's not easy…"

Shikamaru sighed now, irritated. "Nothing's easy, Kankurō. It wasn't easy getting rejected by your sister eleven times before she finally accepted. It wasn't easy getting the shit kicked out of me by her after our first date after she thought she caught me staring at the waitress's ass. She didn't make it easy on me the first time I kissed her. But you wanna know something? The hard things, especially in love… more than likely; they're the things that are most worth it. Now she's pregnant with my child, and we're talking about getting married. We want to marry before the summit's over so Naruto and Hinata can be there… Chōji and Ino are even coming up to watch it."

Kankurō stared at the lazy pineapple-haired shinobi besides him, finding newfound respect for the man. He had no idea he really felt that way for his sister, who made it so hard to love her in any situation. It was the exact same way he felt for Hinata. Kankurō slowly sipped at the rice wine. "I've screwed up badly though… I told her I didn't love her anymore."

"Do you love her still?" asked Gaara.

"Well, yeah, but—"

"Do you think that she loves you still?" interjected Shikamaru.

"Maybe, but after what I've said—"

"How do you know if you don't try? For all you know, she might've have forgiven you," suggested Shikamaru now.

"How do you know that?"

Gaara grinned. "You know that quote; 'If you love something, set it free'? Well, it's not total bullshit, Kankurō. I bet she's just waiting for you to come up to her and apologize to her for being a total fucking asshole. I bet she'll come back to you, if she's yours."

"She's more stubborn than that… she'd just hit me."

"Kankurō… if you keep making excuses; I'll hit you," growled Gaara finally. "Just go and find her. I'm sure she's not far away." Kankurō blinked a couple of times, and he finally nodded; adhering finally to what his brother wanted. Without the cat hat and the facial paint, he would have a much easier time looking for Hinata in public. No one really knew what his face looked like without the Kabuki make-up, and this would benefit him.

As Kankurō walked away, Shikamaru said, "Naruto's got a good plan, you know…"

"I know. I just wish he would've admitted it was Hinata he was talking about to us…" said Gaara, sipping the sake and watching a stripper dance not to far off from where they sat. "So what was this, a kind of bachelor's party?"

"No… I expect an infinitely cleaner, more organized, and definitely more sexy bachelor's party before the week's out, Gaara," said Shikamaru, suppressing a smile as he watched his soon-to-be brother-in-law's face contort in discomfort. Shikamaru wasn't sure if Gaara could handle anything beyond this. He was still getting used to the idea of using people for something other than murdering them in cold blood. Shikamaru chuckled and let himself be entranced by the dance Gaara was watching. _Damn… it would look a hell of a lot better if Temari was doing it… maybe I can convince her to try it…and maybe I can shit rainbows and fly across the galaxy while I'm at it…_


	5. Chapter 5

_**So here comes another bout of my cheesy and sometimes odd sense of humor. I hope you guys like this chapter! **_

_**Thanks to favoriters/followers: **__**pjmonky**__**, **__**mrstoy**__**, **__**mangagranacat**__**, **__**madikotik**__**, **__**kaito kenshin**__**, **__**Yu Nguyen**__**, **__**SarcasticScript**__**, **__**Aki666**__**, **__**Akatsuki's Hina-hime**__**, and **__**Eli1986**__**. **_

_**Thanks to **__**mangagranacat**__** for reviewing! Thanks for liking that scene :)**_

_**Without further ado, here comes the chapter! I still don't own Naruto, though. Sadly.**_

* * *

The night out with Naruto begun well enough. They'd found the cinnamon buns first; which they hadn't expected but embraced fully, filling their arms with the sweet confection that Hinata loved so much. Hinata was grinning so widely that Naruto thought her face would burst. He could tell she wasn't ecstatically happy; but she was happier than she'd been when they'd met up at first. People watched her and her movements, mostly her body. Naruto growled at those people; not out of possession. Because she was like his little sister, and also because she had someone that loved her already, and he was going to make sure that it was fully known.

He'd sent a message back to Konohagakure when Shikamaru sent a Suna servant of Gaara's, a message directly addressed to Hyūga Hiashi over the topic of Hinata's marriage. He was aware, by now, that the Hyūga meant to marry Hinata off. But he also knew that as Hokage, he would get a say of who would be married to her; in fact he'd used this say five times already. All those times, these men felt off; slightly creepy in the back of his mind. They just wanted someone to propagate the Byakugan.

Naruto wanted them to actually care for her; which he felt none of the Hyūga actually did. Kankurō went above and beyond his expectations for Hinata's husband, by actually loving her. If he could get them to publicly admit love, he'd have all he needed to force Hiashi into permitting them a marriage.

This was why he had a tape recorder strapped to his chest. And why when she wasn't looking, he dropped a recorder into her weapons pouch.

"Naruto, what do you think about this?" asked the indigo-haired kunoichi, holding up a tight fitting dress he'd expect Ino or Sakura to wear. His eyebrows rose incredulously, and she blushed. "Ah… that's a definite no."

"No, I never said that," admonished Naruto, blushing. "I just think that wouldn't be something you're comfortable in. You're not really into, ah… _skimpy_ and _revealing_."

"You're right. I'm sorry I even though about it," she said, forcing a smile, though it faltered.

_Dammit. _"Well, I guess trying it on wouldn't hurt," consented Naruto, blushing. _I am going to burn in the darkest, deepest depths of hell for letting Hinata try this damned thing on. I know she'll just feel uncomfortable in it, I know she'll just apologize to me profusely for convincing me to let her try the damned thing on in the first place; why I am doing this?_ Hinata was oblivious to his mental torment, happily grabbing the tiny dress off of the rack and skipping into the back towards the fitting room.

"Hello, Hokage-san, finding everything to your pleasure?" asked yet another attendant. It was beginning to piss him off, especially since they were giving him bedroom eyes. He tried to imagine him telling them to fuck off, but becoming Hokage made him hyper-aware of how polite he had to be, even towards power-hungry sluts.

"I'm fine, thank you," replied Naruto curtly, starting off to the back of the small store towards Hinata where she changed into the skimpy Sunagakure-style kunoichi dress. He sat down on a rather low bench, putting his elbows on his knees as he waited for his shy pale-eyed friend. He let his hand run through his spiked blonde hair, showing his annoyance in a fashion that seemed more like his father than his mother, who would've screamed out 'Dattebayo' several times and/or punched the attendant senseless by now. Even though he didn't really know his parents, seeing as they died the night he was born; he had a feeling of how they would react in different situations.

_I wonder how they'd see me now,_ he thought with a snicker. _Twenty years old, the Sixth Hokage and most favored hero of Konohagakure… and still single. My mother might just start kicking the shit out of me if she knew that…._

"Uhm, Naruto… what do you think?" asked Hinata in her shy voice, alerting him of her presence. His jaw dropped when his eyes found her. The material of the dress was an easy-breathing mesh that hung close to the body to allow the wearer easy movements. There was a pair of shorts underneath the dress that kept them from, of course, flashing their underwear to the world, and it also had a built-in tightly-fitting chest restraints. There was a lavender sash that was around her hips, falling down to her mid thighs and showing Naruto that the dress wasn't nearly as revealing as he thought it would be, except for the rather low v-neck.

Hinata took his shock to mean disgust. She pinched her thigh, which Kankuro had told her were perfect but she didn't believe. "I understand if it's not particularly pretty on someone like me…"

"Hinata, are you kidding me? You look fucking hot!" sputtered Naruto, shocked she'd think that she was ugly wearing that. _God, Kankurō has no idea how lucky he really is, _he thought, coming close to his blushing bodyguard. "Man, whatever guy that chooses to break up with you is a moron, Hinata. You have no idea."

"Hah, funny," she said dryly, her blush gone. "Because I can't have relationships."

"Of course you can," said Naruto, raising a brow again. "You could have any guy you wanted. A bunch of guys would gnaw off their right arm to spend a second in your company."

"I have responsibilities, Naruto. You know as well as I do."

"I'm also the Hokage, remember? I have says in those arrangements, Hinata. And if I say you can date someone… you can date someone." He pretended to be acting clueless. "Are you dating someone, Hinata? Or at least vaguely interested in someone?"

She sighed. "I do have feelings for someone not of the Hyūga… but he's told me that he no longer reciprocates those feelings," she said sadly.

_God Kankurō, you're such a moron,_ thought Naruto, nearly shaking his head. "Well, did you have a fight or something?"

"We were fighting, yes. I told him… I told him that I wasn't his and I never have been, essentially. I brought him to hate me." A tear dripped out of her eye, and she wiped it angrily. "God, now I'm weak again and I've failed my clan because I couldn't stay strong…" She began to cry, and Naruto brought her to stand close to him, their faces nearly touching.

"Hey," said Naruto, "You're the strongest person I know, Hinata." She laughed bitterly. "No, I mean it. You're always helping out other people and taking the worst crap from your father over what he thinks you should do for your clan. You deserve to have what you have with this guy."

"I have nothing with this guy, because I'm such a moron!" sobbed Hinata.

"You know you're not stupid, Hinata. You're in love."

"And he doesn't feel the same way for me anymore…"

"Wrong. If I'm right about the way you feel about him, he loves you just at much."

"How would you know? You're not even in love! You don't even have a family! You understand nothing about what I'm feeling!" she yelled at him.

It hurt him, but he ignored it. He was used to people lashing out at him. "Because I've heard the way people viewed my parents when they were still alive… and based on your reactions and how distraught you seem to be, you have a love a lot like they do." He couldn't hold his question back anymore. "Hinata; is this guy… is it…"

"Kurō-koi," she murmured, not looking at him now; but past him. Naruto turned around to see a man with brown hair and a face like… like the Fourth Kazekage; Gaara's father. His eyes widened upon remembering what Kankurō looked like without the Kabuki paint on, which had been so long ago he'd failed to even try to remember. Kankurō looked like he was about to murder him. Naruto realized what it'd looked like, especially at the angle Kankurō had. Oh, God, he thought Naruto had been kissing Hinata!

_WELL, THIS ISN'T IN YOUR 'PLAN' NOW IS IT, NARUTO? _the Kyūbi snarled. Naruto grit his teeth and let go of Hinata, who was still crying. Crap, this was getting worse. Not only did it look like he'd been kissing her, it looked like she didn't want to be kissed by him either.

"What. Were. You. Doing?" grounded out Kankurō, his hands twitching.

"Not kissing her by force," said Naruto, slowly backing away from him. Kankurō, of course, only thought he was lying. His face was now red, making the purplish bruise on his cheek stand out more. Naruto would've snickered upon realizing it was a hickey if his life wasn't in the balance.

Naruto noticed the attendants had also taken this time to ditch the store. He wished he'd taken their initiative.

"What kind of sick fuck are you?" snarled Kankurō, taking a step towards Naruto, his hands forming into fists. Naruto had never seen Kankurō so angry. It kind of reminded him of Gaara, back when he was psychotic. "What kind of sick fuck are you to take advantage of such a sweet, beautiful girl who protects you from thieves and assassins? What kind of sick fuck are you to do it in the middle of a _fucking store_?!"

"I wasn't taking advantage of her, she'll tell you! Hinata, tell him!" said Naruto, looking towards his bodyguard for support. She, of course, was stuck with repressed emotions bursting to the forefront of her consciousness; rendering her unable to help out Naruto in any positive way for him.

In short, she remained silent and just sobbed harder.

_Shit_, thought Naruto, feeling himself backed against a wall. He considered, briefly, making shadow clones so he could at least get away. But all his stuff was at Kankurō's home; there was no way he could avoid Kankurō for very long if he tried. All he could do in that moment was put his hands up in front of him, tears streaming out of his eyes as he thought of all the things he'd never done in his twenty years, such as kiss Haruno Sakura. Such as have kids. _If I get out of this, I'm going to force Sakura-chan to marry me,_ he thought before Kankurō's fists descended relentlessly upon him.

Hinata eventually came back to reality. The shock of seeing Kankurō there had been too great; it'd made her collapse in tears. She was semi-aware of the fact that Naruto was getting the shit kicked out of him by the puppeteer, but it didn't really click as something that she should be protecting him while she lost herself in her emotions. When she finally came completely back, she was shocked to see Kankuro holding a sobbing, bloody Naruto in a headlock; ready to break his neck. She'd never seen Kankurō so blood-thirsty before in her life. She also hadn't seen Kankurō without his Kabuki makeup or cat hat in public. It just wasn't him. It didn't suit him not to put those items on.

"Kankurō!" she yelled out, scurrying over to Kankurō, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing the side of his head. Kankurō blinked and automatically let go of Naruto, letting him breathe finally. While Naruto tried to suck in air, he wrapped his arms around Hinata, weaving his fingers into her hair as he buried his face into her neck.

"I'm sorry," he finally murmured.

"_I'm_ sorry," said Hinata, pulling back, red-faced. "I was such a moron. I was just so mad; I don't even know why we were fighting. I don't even know why I said what I said. It's not true. I'm taken. I'm yours. I'm always yours. I love you."

"I'm so stupid. How could I not love you? I was just so jealous because you used to have a crush on him. I was stupid and jealous. I didn't want to lose you. How stupid could I be? You're not that kind of person. I'm _yours_, Hinata; I'm only yours. I'm stupid and a jealous guy; but I'm yours. I love you so much, Hinata." He buried his face back in her neck, tightening his grip around her. Hinata pressed herself tightly against him; trying to attach herself so she couldn't lose him again.

Naruto stared at them. He would've been smiling if he weren't trying to get oxygen back in his lungs. He'd gotten them to admit it out loud, and that was all he wanted. He coughed; his throat on fire. It seemed to break the moment, making Hinata and Kankurō both jump in surprise and look down at Naruto. Hinata's eyes widened and she dropped to her knees, using medical ninjutsu to rid Naruto of the bruising around his throat.

"I didn't take advantage of her," Naruto was finally able to gasp out to Kankurō. "I wasn't kissing her anything. I was trying to soothe her, 'cause she was crying, I guess about you…" _Well, I know it was about you, but you're not supposed to know that I knew already!_

Kankurō blinked, and then looked sheepish. "So I just beat you for nothing?" he asked, his eyes flicking around the store awkwardly.

"A little bit, yeah," said Naruto before he hissed in pain due to the fact that Hinata began to stitch up the deepest cuts that Kankurō had inflicted. "Dattebayo," he hissed, and Hinata giggled.

"Just a few more, Hokage-sama," she whispered, closing the deep wound and covering it with gauze. "Some injuries are too deep for me to allow my chakra to go… since my specialties lie with hurting rather than healing; I think sometimes it is best to leave some of those deeper injuries to heal on their own. I can make an ointment for you tonight though to help with the healing processes if you wish."

"And I want you to," said Naruto, wincing in pain as he sat up. He grabbed the bridge of his nose and set it back in place. His shirt lay in tattered strips, ripped up by Hinata when she had been healing his torso with chakra. "The first moment you get. You have my permission to knock down a hospital if you need to get some medicine from there, too!"

Hinata giggled again. "That's hardly your jurisdiction… this is Sunagakure, not Konohagakure…"

"I know where we are," growled Naruto, his mouth in a frown.

Kankurō snickered and helped Naruto to his feet. "I think it's probably best if we get you to your quarters now," suggested Kankurō, putting Naruto's arm over his shoulder.

"I'm going to clean up here and pay for this dress," said Hinata.

Kankurō stared up and down, as if finally realizing what she was wearing. His gaze turned from interest to pure hunger; carnal hunger. It turned Hinata on, making her shiver. Kankurō licked his lips as his eyes trailed from her face to her breasts, to her hips, and to her thighs. He felt his muscles tighten in desire. _Oh, God… I want her so badly right now. She has no idea what she's doing to me by wearing that dress… _His eyes went back up to meet hers and he said in a husky, seductive voice, "Don't take to long, Hina-hime…"

Naruto's eyes widened. _They're thinking about sex NOW? _He just thought it was highly inappropriate at that moment… since he was bleeding all over the floor and felt like he was going to collapse at any randomized moment. But he knew his thoughts didn't matter; it was like he didn't even exist at that moment. The store was filled with an air of thick sexual tension, and it honestly made Naruto uncomfortable to think about the two of them being intimate.

"Uhm… can we go?" muttered Naruto, blushing to a tomato red.

Kankurō and Hinata snapped out of their dazes, turning their attentions back to the matters at hand. "Ah, sure," muttered Kankurō, embarrassed slightly at the fact that he was considering taking Hinata right there in the middle of the store. Hinata turned away, resisting the urge to push her index fingers together in nervousness. She instead used the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu to create three shadow clones, each set with their own task in cleaning up the fitting room area of the clothing store.

By the time she finished, all of the employees decided that it would be okay to come back inside. She smiled sweetly at them, making them smile back. She was impossible to get angry at; even if she was a reason that the store was trashed. "Found everything to your liking, miss?" asked one.

She nodded. "Yes, thank you… I will take five of this same dress, in fact…"

* * *

Shikamaru and Gaara stared at Naruto as he told them what had happened at the store, completely straight-faced; making Naruto think that neither would tease him for what had occurred. When he finally finished and looked down at his hands, he was surprised to hear a snort. He looked up and was shocked to see Gaara holding back a fit of laughter instead of Shikamaru; he just smiled lazily. For about the fourth time in two days, Gaara was bright red in the face; but this time from pure amusement.

"Gaara, this isn't funny," sighed Naruto angrily, blushing.

"Naruto, this is hilarious," said Shikamaru, now beginning to crack up. The two dissolved into fits of loud laughter at last, holding their stomachs as they laughed at the blond Leaf shinobi.

"Dattebayo," muttered Naruto, "You guys are such idiots."

"My favorite part was where Kankurō tried to literally rip him a new asshole," said Shikamaru, ignoring Naruto completely.

This brought new bouts of laughter, their shrieks filling Gaara's study. It resounded of the walls and slipped down the hallways, descending the stairs to the living quarters, sliding under the door of Kankurō's bedroom. The laughs were infectious, causing Kankurō to snicker a little. He lay on his bed, his arms behind his bed as he listened to the sounds of the shower running. She'd gotten some of Naruto's blood on her and insisted that she take a shower the moment she got in; not caring if all they had in water reserves was only lukewarm by this time of the night. Of course, she shrieked out in surprise at first, but now she reveled in the feeling of the water hitting her skin. She hummed softly as she scrubbed down her body, as if it were the best shower she'd ever taken.

Kankurō was perfectly fine with her taking a shower, since his bathroom didn't have a door so much as a sliding rice paper wall. Hinata had turned on the lights, which were behind the shower, and so he could see the outline of her perfect body as she took her shower. He was enjoying it immensely in fact, especially when her breast came into view. He wanted to tell her to keep at a side angle so he could get the profile of her breasts and butt, but the last time he'd done that she'd yelled at him for being such a pervert.

"Hey, Hinata," he said aloud after ten minutes of watching her shower.

"Hmm?" she asked.

"I think I'm going to quit my job," he said.

She was silent for a minute before gasping out, "_WHAT?_"

"You heard me. I'm thinking about quitting being Gaara's bodyguard," he said, a light smile on his lips.

"But… why? That means we can't see each other so often anymore!"

"Well, if I'm not his bodyguard, I can stay in one place… and maybe that one place could be Konohagakure," he said casually, pulling off his mesh shirt and tossing it carelessly on the ground. She remained silent, so he continued. "I was thinking I could look for a place. An apartment big enough for two people. Maybe even three or four if it comes down to it."

Hinata stopped the shower, grabbing a towel and hurriedly drying off her body. He could tell that she was excited before she opened the sliding door, showing him her wide eyes. She had a thick brown towel wrapped around her body just under her armpits, water dripping down her neck in such an enticing way that Kankurō could hardly think straight. "What're you suggesting, Kankurō?"

"Well, we've kind of admitted in public how we feel for each other, breaking the previous terms of our deal. Besides, I'm sure that if it comes down to it we could get Gaara, or even Naruto; to convince your father I'd make a good husband for you… but we could take it slow first. Just move in together. We don't know what each other likes. I mean, you don't even know how I take my coffee yet."

"That's easy. You don't drink coffee. And if you did, there'd be a lot of sugar in it," said Hinata, coming closer. "And you're right. You don't know what I like to eat for breakfast."

"Two cinnamon rolls and green tea, sugarless," said Kankurō, "I don't know how many kids you might even want."

"I figured I'd settle for at least two."

"That's about how many I would want, too; though more than that just seems so damn troublesome."

She smiled. "You sound like Shikamaru."

He shrugged, leaning forward. He put his hand to the back of her head. "I love you, Hinata. I want you to live with me. You can pick the place if you so wish. Any place you want; I'll pay for it even. Money doesn't matter because I'll move wherever you want me to, even if it's the Rain country. I don't care where it is or how much it is along as I've got you."

"My father will never approve of you," she said seriously, "You're not a Hyūga."

"I don't give a damn what your father thinks of me. All I care about is what you think of me," replied Kankurō with equal seriousness. He pressed his lips to her collarbone softly. "So, what do you think? Are you willing to try for me? Because we have something here that I've realized I'm never gonna let go of. I want _you_, Hinata. I want you even when you're old and wrinkly and in a wheelchair."

She smiled and snorted softly. "You're okay with never being accepted by my family?" she asked him.

"It's nothing I can't handle, babe. C'mon, tell me. Do you want to move in with me, Hina-hime?"

"I will… if you don't quit your job." He raised his head, prepared to argue, but she kissed him quickly on the lips. "I don't want you to leave behind everything that makes you happy. Besides, Gaara would try to kill you for ditching him with Temari-chan."

"How're we supposed to live together if we're bodyguards for two different countries?" asked Kankurō, brow furrowing.

She shrugged, smiling. "We'll figure something out." She kissed him again, pushing him onto his back without taking her lips off of his. He brushed his tongue against her bottom lip, begging for entrance; which she allowed. His tongue brushed against hers before they entangled in an erotic, enticing dance that made the both of them moan in pleasure. Kankurō's hands drifted towards where she knotted the end of the towel, undoing it so that it slipped down and off her body; dropping onto the bed. His hand brushed against her breast as it went down to grip her hips, pressing her onto his lap.

Her lips left his so she could kiss his neck, giving him a small hickey behind his right ear. Her hips began to stir, lightly grinding against him. He could feel her wetness through his pants, which were blocking him from being close to her. He struggled to pull them off as she bit his earlobe, driving him insane with pleasure and want. His pants were finally off when she brought her lips back to his.

They moved with an achingly slow place, wanting to remember this time more so than all the rest. No one part of their bodies went unexplored by the others, though they saved the best for last. Kankurō sat them up, his forehead against her lips. He leaned back as she put a hand on his left knee and the other on the back of his neck, her breath coming in heavy pants. He knew what she was trying to do, and he helped her. His hands moved with tantalizing speed from her hips to her ass, gripping her in his palms as he eased her womanhood over his erection. Their eyes, which had been half-lidded and glazed with pleasure, snapped open the moment her damp lower lips touched his member. She let out a moan as he helped her move down onto him, moving slowly as to drive her mad; until he reached her innermost limit.

"Kankurō," she murmured, taking her hand off of his knee and placing it on his shoulder. She slowly began to move up and down, her fingernails digging into his skin; going deeper every time Kankurō let out a groan. He kissed her shoulder, letting his tongue press against the skin and making her breathe his name again in the soft mewl he loved so much. He began to come up to meet her in her slow movements, adding an extra thrust that made the both of them feel so good.

When he lowered his head to kiss her nipple, she moaned out his name. When she sucked on the side of his neck, her teeth brushing the bruising skin; he gripped her tighter and breathed her name into the air. Soon, they found their release, the both of them whispering the other's name. They gripped each other tighter as they rode along the pleasure, their pants shaky and almost unheard.

Slowly, Kankurō laid them down onto the bed. She pushed herself into his side, her sticky fingers lightly playing against his bared chest before wrapping around his abdomen. He wrapped an arm around her, pushing her into his torso as he kissed to top of her head. Their legs tangled together, her roughened heel brushing against his calve. The blanket covered them from their hips down, but Kankurō pulled it up to hide Hinata's bared breasts from the world.

"Kankurō…?"

"Hmm?"

"…I love you."

"And I love you."

And so they fell asleep, comfortable in the safety of each other's arms, and for the first time the pair allowed themselves to waste the rest of their night together by sleeping until the sun shined through the windows.


	6. Chapter 6

_**AND... I am back! lol. I waited a while to put this up (code: I didn't get a chance yesterday) and so I'm putting it up today. :3**_

_**Thanks to the followers/favoriters: **_**_pjmonky_****_, _****_mrstoy_****_, _****_mangagranacat_**_**, **__**madikotik**__**, **_**_kaito kenshin_****_, _****_Yu Nguyen_****_, _****_SarcasticScript_****_, _****_Aki666_****_, _****_Akatsuki's Hina-hime_****_, _****_VampLover109_****_, _****_HikariYamiLuv_****_ and _****_Eli1986_****_! _**

**_MAJOR THANKS to _**_**McKazekage**__** for those five simultaneous reviews! THAT absolutely made my day! Hehe. **_

_**Only one more chapter to go :( But I hope you guys like it! ENJOY! [Also, I don't own Naruto].**_

* * *

"Temari-chan, stop fidgeting."

"I'm not fidgeting," complained the mother-to-be, her mouth forming a scowl at the pink-haired beauty in front of her as she attempted to beautify the blond woman. Usually, the sand kunoichi believed in simplicity; which meant no makeup and no real hairstyle besides her four ponytails. This idea was absolutely revoked by the visiting Leaf kunoichi; including the shy Hinata. They basically pushed Temari into a chair, ignoring her threats and complaints, and began their beautification processes.

"Yes, you are," said Haruno Sakura firmly, "And I want you to stop before I get this kohl in your eye. I want you to be beautiful; not blind."

"I'll look like Kankuro," she muttered angrily, but she stopped trying to move. Sakura smiled and continued rimming her blue eyes with the black beauty enhancer. While she played with makeup, Yamanaka Ino did her nails, which Temari _really _didn't want because she thought painted nails were weird. Though, every time Temari tried to pull her hand away, Ino would pop her in the wrist; so she stopped that quickly.

"No, you'll look sexy as hell and Shikamaru will die when he sees you," said Ino, painting Temari's nails pale blue, like her eyes.

It was Temari's chosen wedding day, which she insisted to be a small occasion. The council was more than happy to allow this, seeing how it wasn't Gaara's wedding. They seemed to be more interested in showing the village Gaara's humanity than anyone else's; though Temari had her share of wrong in the past. Her ledger was the same shade of red. But she didn't feel the need to prove that she wasn't that person anymore, so she didn't try to press for a large wedding. Not that she would know what to do with a large wedding, anyways. She didn't know that many people.

While Naruto and Gaara were busy finishing up the meeting with the other Kages, the women began the long process of readying their most unfeminine bride for her wedding. Hinata was doing her hair for her, which she actually quite enjoyed. The Hyūga had been at many weddings before and knew what the bride's hair should look like. She also knew how to make it most comfortable on Temari; who she knew to hate dressing up and looking like a doll.

"You will look perfect," said Hinata, leaning over Temari's face so she could see her smile. Temari was beginning to like the indigo-haired kunoichi. She was polite, yet firm. She wasn't overbearing and pushy, like Sakura and Ino… she reminded Temari of her mother.

"Thank you, Hina-chan," said the fan-bearer affectionately, smiling at her. "Maybe I can help you on the day of your wedding to Kankurō."

Sakura smiled. "When is that, Hinata? I forgot the day!"

"It's a while away," said Hinata, blushing madly. She remembered being surprised when her father stormed into Gaara's home, red in the face due to the message Naruto had sent back to Konohagakure about Kankurō. She remembered every awkward moment about the entire conversation, which had mostly been critical towards her and Kankurō both. While she was more than slightly nervous, Kankurō maintained his cool, smiling while her father screamed at him. In the end, though, Hiashi agreed to allow Hinata to marry Kankurō; after hearing Naruto's rather calm account over the entire relationship (thankfully, he hadn't mentioned the sex to her father). He even said that she could still take over the clan; but to the surprise of everyone in the room she decided to turn over her inheritance to her little sister; who she felt deserved it.

Hinata wrapped Temari's hair into the silken cover and pushed a senbon through the bun to keep it in place; knowing that Temari would be much more comfortable knowing she had a weapon if need be. She brushed her hand against the blond side-swept bangs that went to Temari's blushed cheek. "Temari-chan, I've finished with your hair. Does it feel too tight?"

"No, Hinata-chan, it feels perfect. Thank you."

"It's my pleasure."

"I see you avoiding the subject, Hinata!" cried out Ino in frustration, filing Temari's nail. "What kind of wedding is it? Is it large, with lots of flowers? Is it like the ones out in the west? What kind of honeymoon will you and Kankurō have? Exotic?"

"Ino, breathe," said Sakura, finishing with the makeup, "You're going to give Hinata a heart attack. Hell, you're going to give me a heart attack; and it's not even my wedding we're talking about!"

"Shut up, forehead," said Ino, pouting as she applied nail polish.

"I'd rather not talk about my upcoming wedding, Ino-chan," said Hinata, sighing. She sat down in the stool the girls put in front of Temari's sink, running her fingers through her long indigo hair. "Sakura-chan, can you help me with my hair? I don't want it loose like usual."

"Sure, I am done with putting Temari's makeup on. Once Ino-pig's done with Temari's nails, we'll find Matsuri and get her ready, too. Isn't she your maid of honor?" she asked Temari, who nodded.

"She'll probably be hiding out in her room. She hates makeup," said Temari.

"Is it common amongst Suna kunoichi to avoid beautification? Your hands are really dry, Temari," chastised Ino.

"We sweat a lot, Ino," said Temari in an irritated voice. "Makeup usually doesn't stay applied for long. Which is why this is a nighttime wedding. If it were during the day; I would be avoiding all sorts of cosmetics."

"This is why I live in Konoha. No deserts and no extreme heat," said Ino.

"I think it's nice here," said Hinata as Sakura massaged her scalp, letting her eyes flutter shut. "The heat isn't too bad… and I like the sand…"

Ino stared at her pale friend. "I think the sun is beginning to get to her."

"Or it could just be that six-foot-tall gorgeousness she's marrying," said Sakura, making Hinata blush. "I've healed him once, Ino. Words cannot express how hot he is without that damned Kabuki paint on… hey, how does he keep that on all day? Why doesn't he sweat it off?"

"Its special paint that only Sunagakure makes," said Temari.

"Ooh, well, that makes sense," said Sakura as she tapped Hinata's shoulder, telling her to lean back over the sink so she could wash her hair. "Well, what's it like? How good is he in bed that you're getting married to him?"

"Oh, God, can we not discuss this?" asked Temari, suddenly terrified. Ever since she learned that the two of them had a relationship; all she could hear at night was their 'lovemaking'. She had to force Shikamaru to buy her ear plugs. In her mind, little brothers were something that she believed to be firmly asexual; even if they had girlfriends. It just wasn't natural to her, and it was disgusting to hear them.

Hinata blushed. _Oh, God, she hasn't heard us, has she_? she wondered worriedly. She couldn't bring herself to open her eyes; which was a good thing seeing as Sakura was squeezing mint-scented shampoo into her hair. She simply let the blush take over her entire face, squeezing her mouth shut. She was mortified. She didn't think that they were really very loud; but then again she wasn't really set on volume control when she was mid-coitus. She had assumed they were whispering, but for all she really knew they were screaming out. Which, technically, they were.

Temari noticed her blush and snickered. _Okay, maybe she's not intentionally loud,_ she thought, watching Ino put the last perfecting strokes on her fingernails, which were now baby blue and surprisingly cute to Temari (which confused her slightly: she didn't really address things as cute). "God, Ino, you're amazing," she said, smiling wide.

"And you look like a goddess," said Ino, smiling up at the blond shinobi. "Sakura, you can finish up with Hinata's hair. I'm going to find Matsuri."

"Sure, have fun," said Sakura before Ino ran out of the room.

* * *

"Why do you think Ino's running like that?" asked Chōji, noticing his girlfriend was running angrily after a girl with short brown hair. He would've poked his head out to call her, but he was afraid that she would kill him for it.

"Ino's running like what?" asked Shikamaru, taking another drag of the cigarette, not really in the mood to get up and look at their closest female friend. _Damn, Asuma, if you could see us right now_… he thought, watching the smoke waft up to the ceiling. He couldn't believe he was actually getting married. He was barely twenty and he was getting married to a woman who was three years older than him, which really didn't matter to him in the grand scheme of things. What did matter to him was that he was marrying a woman more beautiful than he thought he'd ever get.

Chōji shook his head. "Never mind. She caught her. And she's dragging her away… kicking and screaming…"

Shikamaru snorted. "You should be scared, Chōji."

"I am. I've just gotten better at hiding it," he replied easily, opening a bag of barbeque potato chips and stuffing a couple into his mouth. Inside, he was shaken at the sight of the screaming, crying girl with the huge bruise forming on the side of her face from being tackled so hard by Ino; but he'd learned to keep his cool about stuff like that. He'd find out if she was okay later, inconspicuously. He looked over at his lazy counterpart, who let out his usually tied-back dark hair so that it fell around his shoulders. He hadn't really realized how long Shikamaru's hair was before that moment, seeing how he'd never seen it down.

Shikamaru caught his stare. "What?"

"Shouldn't you be insanely nervous? Temari's scarier than Ino is."

He shrugged. "Why go through the trouble of worrying? Everything will turn out alright, since she's anal with planning."

"It's not exactly like you're not crazy with your planning, either. You've got to be worried, at least a little. After all, it's a wedding. Any amount of things could go wrong, like the food. Especially the food. Or maybe the flowers will wilt—!"

"Can you stop with the bad karma, Chō? Jeez, what if she heard you? I don't wanna bring about Armageddon," snapped Shikamaru in a worried tone, his eyes moving about the room nervously; as if to ascertain that a certain sand kunoichi was not listening in on their conversation.

Chōji snickered. "Ah, so you're a little bit afraid it seems," he said, smiling triumphantly.

Shikamaru laughed shakily. "You wish." Chōji was right—Shikamaru was incredibly nervous. He wanted this day to be perfect for Temari. While she was crazy and semi-neurotic regularly; it seemed to enhance upon becoming pregnant. She single-handedly haunted Shikamaru's worst nightmares, which were all centered on marriage.

He was pretty sure that if it didn't go perfectly, she would murder him.

Kankurō strolled into the sitting area, armed with red bean soup. He was dressed up like both Shikamaru and Chōji, though he refused to part with the purple Kabuki paint. He grinned at the two Leaf ninja before flopping down on the couch, somehow not spilling any of the soup. He slurped, watching the Nara heir carefully. "So. On a level of one to five billion, how terrified are you?"

"Wow. No faith," complained Shikamaru, groaning and flipping over on the couch after putting out the rest of his cigarette.

"I have faith. But Temari's scary," said Kankurō, chuckling when Chōji agreed with him.

"How about we stop worrying about me and start worrying about you. Have you even _met _Hyūga Hanabi? Trust me, once you do, you'll know what it means to be terrified," said Shikamaru.

Kankurō's grin slipped. "What do you mean?"

"Hanabi's planned Hinata's wedding since she could write. The girl's horrible," said Chōji, shivering. "I bet by now she's planned your wedding a hundred times."

"She planned Neji's wedding. Really nice, kind of over-the-top if you ask me. Anyway, a florist forgot one flower arrangement, and Hanabi used the Gentle Fist on her," said Shikamaru, "And the worst part is; that woman wasn't even a ninja. She doesn't have chakra points. That woman was in a coma for two weeks after what Hanabi did to her."

Kankurō nearly choked on the red bean soup, and he looked nauseous. His face turned green as he looked at Shikamaru. Chōji clapped him on the back, and he had to gulp back the vomit. "Well, Shikamaru, you should feel better about your wedding now."

"I actually do. Thanks, Kankurō," said Shikamaru, grinning widely. Kankurō would've growled if it hadn't been for the fact that he was sure that if he opened his mouth he would puke. _Oh, God, no wonder Hinata's not worrying about it at all! Was she ever going to tell me that she has someone WORSE than Temari for a sister?_ Kankuro thought, now lost in his terror.

"Well, speaking of the Hyūga sisters; how is your relationship with the shyest Hyūga of all time?" asked Chōji, sensing the puppeteer's mental distress. He would be scared too, if Hyūga Hanabi was in charge of his wedding.

He seemed to calm down when Chōji mentioned Hinata. "It's better now that we're open about it," he said, finally able to look down at the soup and not feel physically sick. "It feels more solid. Real. Less like a minute thing and more forever. And I can't thank you guys enough for getting us to be public about it."

Shikamaru blushed and scowled. "Yare, yare. Stop mentioning it. You're being troublesome," he complained, making Chōji smile. This was how Shikamaru usually acted when embarrassed about something, especially something he cared about.

Chōji would've said something, but Naruto and Gaara descended, still dressed in their Kage robes. It was best for them, seeing how the Kage robes were for formal occasions. They just left the hats off of their heads, choosing to let their hair out. Naruto grinned and sat on Shikamaru's stomach, making him groan out in pain. "I can't believe you, of all people, are getting married!" exclaimed Naruto, still grinning widely.

"Yare, yare," came the Nara.

"What are your arrangements?" asked Gaara. "I know Temari wishes to give birth here in Sunagakure… but you're the bodyguard of Naruto and the heir of the Nara, both of which reside in Konohagakure…"

"I'm not sure yet," said Shikamaru, serious. "I know we're staying here until the birth of the baby, since that's what Temari wants. But she seems pretty open to the idea of raising the kid in Konoha… she likes the idea of running a clan, I think."

Gaara nodded. "I'll be happy for you two wherever you are," he said, though there was an undertone of sadness only Kankurō and Naruto could detect. He would miss Temari greatly if she were to leave Suna in favor of Konoha; and in effect leave him. He'd gotten very close to his siblings over the years, and while he knew that eventually they would grow their separate ways; he still didn't want it to happen. Kankurō stood up and clapped a hand on Gaara's shoulder. He looked up at him and let the ghost of a smile touch his lips.

"Hey, so who's walking her down the aisle?" asked Chōji suddenly.

The two brothers blinked at the same time. The entire wedding had been very spur-of-the-moment; none of the sand siblings thought about that specific detailing. Obviously, it could not be their father, the Fourth Kazekage; seeing as how he was killed during their first Chūnin exam by shinobi led under Orochimaru. Nor could it be their mother, who died giving birth to Gaara; or their uncle Yashamaru who blew himself up trying to kill Gaara. With each remembered fallen family member, Gaara's eyes began to look around the room uncomfortably, thinking that he single-handedly managed to screw with his sister's wedding years before it was even considered to take place.

"Well, shit," said Kankurō, rubbing the back of his neck through his cat hat. He smiled sheepishly and said, "I don't think we really thought about that. Maybe she's giving herself away…"

"I'm almost pretty sure that's not allowed," said Chōji, his brow furrowing in thought. He hadn't been to very many weddings, but he'd heard his mother talking about quite a lot of them over the years. "No, now I'm absolutely sure that's not allowed. You can't give yourself away in a wedding."

"I don't know. Temari's pretty independent," said Shikamaru uncertainly.

"Uh-huh!" said Naruto, his eyes closed and his thumb on his chin. "So we need to find someone to walk Temari down the aisle, eh?!"

"No, Naruto, we're not going to have a mission an hour before my sister's wedding!" snapped Kankuro, and Gaara simply let a ghost of a smile touch his lips again.

Naruto was crestfallen. "Aw, why not?!" asked the blond Hokage.

Shikamaru smacked him upside the head. "You idiot; we just don't have the time. If any of us are late… well, she can't kill Gaara, but she'll certainly kill the rest of us!" said the lazy Nara male.

"Even me?" asked Chōji, a cold sweat starting on the back of his neck. "She doesn't even really know me!"

"Especially you. It's easier to kill people you don't know, especially when you can sneak cyanide into their food," said Shikamaru teasingly. He regained his serious composure quickly. "But, seriously. You two can't think of anyone that could walk your sister down the aisle?"

"I think we'd have more luck letting her walk down the aisle by herself," muttered Kankurō, finishing his red bean soup.

"Kankurō, stop with the nonsense," chastised Gaara, crossing his arms and glaring disapprovingly at his older brother. "You know she wants a semi-traditional wedding; which means we need someone to walk her down the aisle and give her away to Shikamaru. Logistically speaking, you could do it, or I could do it. Maybe… even Baki could do it. Where is he?"

Kankurō raised an eyebrow. "Baki?"

"Yes, our sensei, Baki," said Gaara, sighing.

"I know who he is, Gaara," replied Kankurō irritably. "I didn't even think he cared, to be honest. I mean, I could ask; but I don't remember them being as close as we were to him."

"You mean as _you_ were," said Gaara, "You guys were basically like father and son, Kankurō. But I'm sure if you simply asked him to, he'd be more than happy to give Temari away at the wedding. It'd be a good surprise for her, I think." Kankurō rubbed his chin, his eyes closed sagely as he thought about Gaara's recommendation. It made sense, in Kankuro's mind; that their sensei would give away Temari at her wedding. He was aware that Baki wasn't nearly as close to Temari as himself or even Gaara had been; but it would still mean the same thing to Temari. Baki had always treated the sand siblings like human beings, and he'd been the person to convince the council of Gaara's sanity when he became the Kazekage. Beyond that, Kankurō worshipped him like a father, and he knew that his two siblings definitely cared deeply for the Jōnin.

"Yeah, I don't see why I can't ask," said Kankurō, nodding and crossing his arms, eyes still closed. He smiled as he said in an affectionate tone, "It's not like Baki would say no, anyways. He can be a bit of a pushover sometimes…"

"Excuse me, but what did you just call me, Kankurō?" asked a hard, steely voice that made four of the five men jump in surprise (the exception being Gaara, who simply turned around and widened his eyes slightly). Baki stood there, a hard glare in his eye as he looked at his former student. Kankurō smiled sheepishly at his former sensei, his facial paint making him look more than slightly ridiculous. "It's the day of your sister's wedding, Kankurō; you couldn't leave the makeup at home for a change?" asked Baki teasingly.

"It's not makeup!" barked Kankurō, pissed. "It is _Kabuki paint_. Not makeup!"

"Apparently Hinata's into boys with lipstick," remarked Naruto, grinning. Kankuro tried to deck the blond shinobi, but Chōji was quick in grabbing and withholding him. Baki laughed as Kankurō turned nearly as purple as his paint, not helping him in the least. Kankurō growled and pushed Chōji away from him; muttering profanities while sitting back down. Naruto had dissolved into laughter, giggles erupting out of his mouth.

"You know, Hanabi's not going to let you wear that makeup to your wedding," said Shikamaru, "Even if it's something to do with your freaky little puppet thing. She'd rather invite Naruto."

"WAAH! I'm not invited their wedding?! Dattebayo?!" cried out the Sixth Hokage in distress.

* * *

The wedding was, in a word, perfect. Baki agreed to walk Temari down the aisle, which had brought her to tears of joy; making Sakura rush to fix her makeup in two minutes. Shikamaru was surprised when he saw that his father had convinced Kurenai to come to the wedding with a plus one of the three-year-old Sarutobi Tobirama. Shikamaru smiled despite himself to see the small black-haired boy that had a smile just like Asuma's. Chōji and Ino were the only one to notice the small tear that managed to leave Shikamaru's eye, and they both smiled at their friend.

The small, peaceful wedding had a small, peaceful reception to match; the food all to Chōji's liking. Ino grinned in amusement to see Chōji scarf up the food, laughing when she should've been trying to stop him. When questioned on this, Ino responded, "Chōji's a grown-ass man… if he throws up, it's all on him. I'm not going to try and stop him."

Hinata watched her small circle of friends with a mixture of affection and amusement. She watched as Naruto forced Sakura to get up from her conversation with Matsuri to dance with him; which she didn't seem to want to do but did anyways. Hinata smiled at the lovesick moron's face. _I remember a time when I wished he'd make a face like that for me_, she thought as Kankurō's hand snaked around her waist and pulled her into him. She looked up at the puppeteer's face and smiled. _But I think I'm glad it never happened. _

"Enjoying yourself?" he asked, handing her a cup of sake, which she took graciously. He spotted his sister chatting with Kurenai, more than likely speaking about pregnancy. He had to admit; he'd never seen Temari glow like she was at this moment, as a now happily wedded expectant mother. _Damn, I hope I can make Hinata that happy someday; I want to see her glowing because of pregnancy. Of course, I can do without the actual giving birth part, but still… _

"Immensely," she said sipping the sake. While she liked the idea of the glow that came with pregnancy, she was glad she wasn't pregnant yet; she couldn't deal with the idea of pushing an entire human being out of her without becoming slightly nauseous. Of course, she planned on having children someday, but right now she was happy to enjoy rice wine.

The pair was more than comfortable with silence, watching Naruto make an absolute ass of himself in front of Sakura; who simply laughed at her closest friend. They were happy to be close to each other, to be open with their love. They were a weird sight; the Hyūga and the puppeteer. One with purple face paint and a cat's hat, the other without pupils and in possession of blue hair. Two complete oddities, together. One might say that they were made for each other.

Gaara interrupted their moment, which didn't annoy either. "Kankurō," he said, "May I speak to Hinata for a minute in private?"

"Sure," said Kankurō easily, letting go of Hinata and kissing her cheek affectionately, making her blush deep red. "I have to go stock up on some of the food, anyways; before Chōji eats all of it. Do you want me to get anything for either of you?"

"I've already eaten," said Gaara, shaking his head.

"I would love it if you got me some food," admitted Hinata, "Especially some of that yummy zenzai that's out of Chōji's line of sight for the minute."

Kankurō took a look. "Sure. I better go now before Chōji realizes it's there." He kissed her cheek once again; and her blush deepened and she fought to suppress a giggle. He smiled at her, rubbing the edge of her mouth, and nodded at his brother, his look saying, _I'm trusting you._ Gaara nodded back and put his hand on the kunoichi's shoulder, gently pulling her away from the reception as to make her completely aware that the subject he wished to speak with her about was one of a professional matter. Her goofy smile slipped off of her face as she realized Gaara was being completely serious. They went to the doorway, leaning against the frame and looking outside to the dark, quiet Sunagakure.

"So you are marrying my brother in seven weeks," he whispered.

"Yes. I hope that you're okay with that, Kazekage-sama," she replied respectfully, making Gaara smile lightly.

"Hinata-chan. I think we are past formalities, seeing as how in a little less than two months you are becoming a part of my family," he said in a kind tone, "Gaara will do just fine. And yes, I'm more than okay with you marrying Kankurō. I've seen the way he looks at you and I've seen the way you look at him. He deserves someone like you."

She nodded. "Thank you, but I'm very ordinary, Gaara…"

He smirked. "You're anything but ordinary, Hinata-chan. Naruto tells me that you have some skills in the field of medical ninjutsu that rival Haruno-chama, and she has formal training whereas you do not. In addition, your skills upon the battlefield are worthy of the title of a general; based on some very good recommendations from your team leader, Kurenai-san. Plus, you can put up with Naruto for extended amounts of time."

She smiled. "Thank you…?" she said, giggling lightly at the latter.

"You're more than welcome," said Gaara, chuckling as he looked back in on the wedding to see Temari wrapped in Shikamaru's arms. "Temari is more than likely going to leave the sand in favor of Konoha at the conclusion of her pregnancy. She's our ambassador, but she's also one of my bodyguards. I need someone that works well with Kankurō to take her place, and that's really hard to do."

"I imagine. He's very hard to work with sometimes," she said, smiling as she caught sight of her fiancé playing with her adorable little godson.

"Hmm, yes, it is. I've been searching high and low for someone, but I think I've finally found them." Hinata raised an eyebrow and looked at Gaara to show him she was still in the conversation. "Yes. They're someone that can pamper Kankurō one moment and then have his balls in a vice grip in the next. They're also a close-range fighter with a blood line, and—"

"Gaara?"

"Yes?"

"Stop trying to be sly; it isn't working. Besides, Temari already pitched the idea to me while we were getting her ready for the wedding. My response has been yes for five hours already. I've made Naruto aware of my choice, and he respects it. It seems that the only one who doesn't know is Kankurō," she said, still smiling reservedly, but Gaara knew that she was excited and overjoyed.

"I will write up the formal documentations before you depart tomorrow evening," said Gaara, nodding and shaking the kunoichi's outstretched hand. They turned their heads to the puppeteer, who was pretending to look for Tobirama, who was hanging off of the back of his shirt, giggling like crazy. Kankurō caught Hinata's gaze and grinned at his love, making her heart pound in her chest. Hinata excused herself and went over to the man, who grabbed the young Sarutobi off his back and placed him down on the floor.

"Hina-neechan, will you dance with me?" asked the three-year-old boy.

"Why, I'd be honored to," she responded, picking him up. He giggled and wrapped his tiny arms around his godmother's neck, his blush bright pink. He kissed her cheek, and her smile grew bigger. Kankurō slipped into a seat and watched his future wife dance with Tobirama; his gaze never leaving them. She smiled back at Kankurō as she danced with the toddler, who seemed to be having the time of his life in the ex-heiress' arms.

_God, do I love her_, thought the puppeteer.


	7. Epilogue

_**So, here it is: the short epilogue of this fic. This was purely written for my own amusement, and I'm glad that people liked this story. I'm not sad to see it end, and I'm not sad with how it turned out. This was a fun fic to write, and I think it pretty much solidified that KankHina pairings are just the only pairing I can do with Hinata in the shinobi world. I've written one AU fic that was KakaHina, and I think I may write another (though it won't be multichapter). So AU stories-KakaHina. Canonverse[ish] stories-KankHina. Got it. **_

_**Thank you to everyone who reviewed/favorited/followed this story! You all made my days for liking such a story. I can't do any thanks right now, because I wasted a lot of my time on my other story's newest update (it's called We Rise Above; if you liked 'Of Strength', it's the sequel to that. It does stand alone, so hypothetically speaking, you can just pop in and start reading if you want) but I will do thanks ASAP. But just a big, general thanks to everyone who read this story right now!**_

_**Alright, enough of my talking. Onto the epilogue. Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. ENJOY! **_

* * *

The crackling fire seemed to be the only thing that kept Hinata awake. She sat there, her arms wrapped around her shins as she kept first watch, Byakugan activated. The fire was the only thing that made a sound in the quiet forest, and that was something Hinata found peace in: the uneventful nature of this forest. Uneventful usually meant non-dangerous; or at least in Konohagakure it did. But, as a ninja, she was required to make sure that it was definitely uneventful.

That meant keeping first watch while Gaara slept.

For the past five years, Hinata has been a bodyguard of the Lord Kazekage Sabaku no Gaara and wife of the master puppeteer Lord Sabaku no Kankurō. Married life hadn't changed her ways in the slightest; nor had bearing him two beautiful children: in fact, even in pregnancy Hinata remained scarily independent; insisting to do things when she _should_ have been in bed due to the pain. Even now, when she should have been at home with her two children, a three year old and a fifteen month-old; she was escorting the Kazekage back to Sunagakure, leaving her children with their aunt Matsuri.

A stirring behind her distracted Hinata from her thoughts. She assumed it was Gaara, but a look behind her with her Byakugan made her aware that it was, of course, Kankurō. He wrapped his arms around his wife and kissed her neck softly. Eight years and the passion that had been like live wire was still going strong. He still found himself unable to keep his hands off of her, and she still didn't mind. She leaned back into him, sighing in contentment.

"What're you thinking about, Hina?" he asked her softly, as not to disturb Gaara.

"Yashamaru," she sighed, "I don't want to hear that he was pushing Suki down when she tries to walk again. Last time he did that, she refused to be in the same room alone with him without crying."

He snickered. His son was sometimes a bit abrupt and angry towards his little sister; though he knew that he did care for her. Yashamaru bore a striking resemblance towards Kankurō's late uncle, with the exception of his dark indigo hair and pale lavender eyes, much like Hinata. While Yashamaru did seem to abuse his little sister; he did possess an interest in healing, much like his uncle had. Yashamaru was capable of about as much love as his late uncle, too; perhaps even more. "He's a boy who loves his mother. Don't be too harsh on him. Before my mother died; the relationship between me and Temari was much the same. At least, that's what my uncle used to tell me."

"Suki's tiny, though. She's going to get scared of walking at this rate," said Hinata, worrying about her young daughter.

"Uhm, babe. You worry too much sometimes," said Kankurō, kissing her cheek softly. "If you remember right, Suki also bit him. Really fucking hard, too, I might add. She's got a jaw on her."

"And she's daddy's little girl, too, which is why you're pointing out her strength," said Hinata, smiling at her husband's face as he spoke about their infant daughter. Named after Hinata's late mother, Suki had Hinata's face but light brown hair that reminded Kankuro of his own mother. She also did not possess the same eyes as her brother and mother, instead having Kankurō's dark brown color; though her irises were wider than his. She also liked to play with dolls and was oftentimes found inside the Black Ant's barrel, sleeping comfortably with her little thumb stuck in her mouth. It sometimes scared Hinata to find her there, considering that the Black Ant was still a weapon and had been used for murder on many occasions; but she decided it would be best to let it go.

Kankurō smiled at her and pecked at her lips. "Yes, she damn well is, and I'll kill any guy who looks at her the wrong way," he growled under his breath, making Hinata laugh. "No, I'm serious. I'll use the Ant, too, Hina. His ass is grass if I see him treating _my _baby girl in a way I don't find to be appropriate."

"I know you're serious. And I love that you love her that much, just don't let her get away with too much!"

"Hmm, alright. I guess that personal horse is out of the question, then…"

She turned and pushed Kankurō's broad chest, laughing. "_Kurō_! You don't give horses to one-year-olds!" she admonished. Kankurō growled playfully and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into him. She giggled as Kankurō rubbed his painted nose against her neck. He kissed her, licking the skin. She felt very turned-on in that moment, with Kankurō's hands beginning to roam. She looked up at Gaara's seemingly-sleeping form. "Oh, Kankurō," she murmured, pulling him in for a passion-filled kiss. "What about Gaara?"

"I'll be really quiet. We can go into a tent. All I really need is about five minutes, Hina. God knows we don't get this type of time at home," he murmured against her lip, biting her plump bottom lip. His hand slowly drifted underneath her Jōnin jacket, pressing against her hip.

Usually, Hinata would've said no, but she was now too turned on to turn back. "Okay," she murmured with hunger, "Only five minutes. Then I need to keep watch. We've still got to bring Gaara back to Suna alive."

Kankurō smiled, his breath tickling her skin as he picked her up, carrying her into a tent. "God, I love you, Hinata," he whispered as they ducked inside, tangling together. He struggled to zip up behind him.

Gaara allowed himself to crack open an eye. He sat up and smothered the fire with his sand, not wasting any time in tugging the earplugs out of his pocket and stuffing them into his ears as the foreplay began. "God," he whispered to himself irritably, resigning himself to keeping watch while his teammates went at it like jackrabbits, "You guys do this _every fucking time_. Next time, we're staying in a fucking hotel. I refuse to listen to this in the middle of an empty forest all by my damned self!"


End file.
